ttab cancels registration of redskins mark

In a much-awaited decision, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board canceled the registration of the Redskins mark on the grounds of disparagement.  Blackhorse v. Pro-Football, Inc.  A divided panel cancelled six registrations owned by the Washington Redskins football team under Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act on the grounds that the marks containing the words REDSKINS or REDSKINETTES was disparaging.  The board reasoned that the record in this case showed a substantial composite of Native Americans found the term REDSKINS disparaging and the respondent's argument that the term had secondary meaning denoting a football team as unpersuasive.