Redskins Owner Dan Snyder: ‘I Will Never Change The Name’ Despite Court Ruling That It Is ‘Offensive’

Redskins owner Dan Snyder vows to appeal, through the courts, the trademark cancellation of the Redskins name (which doesn’t go into effect immediately), citing the history and heritage of the football team as being important, Snyder told USA Today Sports.

Although the Court has ruled against the Redskins name, stating it is indeed offensive to Native Americans, Redskins owner Dan Snyder says he will not change the name, no matter what. The Washington Redskins lost a major battle on Wednesday.

U.S. District Court Judge Gerald Bruce Lee upheld the ruling of the Federal Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, which determined the team’s name was offensive to Native Americans, making it ineligible under the Lanham Act for status in the federal trademark registry. However, this does not mean a name change is imminent, as the Redskins can appeal, and owner Dan Snyder says the name is never changing, no matter what the outcome is — meaning there could be a long fight ahead with many court appearances and lots of money spent. Judge Lee quoted Allen Iverson in his 70 page ruling, according to CBS Sports.

“As a threshold matter, throughout the pleadings the parties conflated the legal principles surrounding trademarks with those surrounding trademark registration. Just as Allen Iverson once reminded the media that they were wasting time at the end of the Philadelphia 76ers’ season ‘talking about practice’ and not an actual professional game, the Court is similarly compelled to highlight what is at issue in this case — trademark registration, not the trademarks themselves. It is the registrations of the Redskins Marks that were scheduled for cancellation by the TTAB’s decision, not the trademarks. In fact, the TTAB itself pointed out that it is only empowered to cancel the statutory registration of the marks; it cannot cancel the trademarks themselves.”

The bitter fight has caused numerous opinions and arguments for and against the name change. Many Native American rights groups have protested for the change, although some have stated they do not find the name offensive.

The trademark cancellation does not go into effect immediately, and can be appealed through the courts. Redskins owner Dan Snyder vows to do just that, citing the history and heritage of the football team as being important, Snyder told USA Today Sports.

“We will never change the name of the team. As a lifelong Redskins fan, and I think that the Redskins fans understand the great tradition and what it’s all about and what it means, so we feel pretty fortunate to be just working on next season. I will never change the name. It’s that simple – NEVER. You can use caps.”

How do you feel about Snyder’s statement on this emblazoned battle?

[photo by Soccer Daily]