Over the summer, a federal judge upheld a ruling that was made in 2014 that Washington’s team name, the Redskins, was offensive to Native Americans, and thus, unable to be trademarked in the federal registry. Since that decision, owner Daniel Snyder and his team of lawyers have not gone quietly, and have appealed the ruling to the 4th Circuit Court in Richmond, Virginia.
Their angle in the appeal has been an interesting one to say the least, which essentially amounts to “but these guys are doing it, too.” They have cited a list of other trademarks with potentially offensive names that are currently protected by the Patent and Trademark Office, so why are they being picked on?
On Sunday’s edition of HBO’s Last Week Tonight, John Oliver had a bit of fun running down some of the list of trademarks that the Redskins have cited in their appeal, which he noted include the following marks: HOT OCTOPUSS anti-premature ejaculation creams; Klitoris (with a “k”); Jizz Underwear; Laughing my vagina off; and, of course, DICK BALLS.
The Redskins point appears to be that “just about everything is disparaging to someone.” Oliver has countered that a) no it isn’t, and b) that’s really not the point.
Be sure to stick around to the end, where Oliver offers a fun fantasy team name that may be a bit long on characters, but is certainly not short on once again sticking it to Snyder and the Redskins.
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