Court rejects Redskins name challenge

WASHINGTON, Nov. 16 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court Monday rejected a challenge by Native Americans to the Washington Redskins' team name.

The lawsuit was originally filed in 1992 by seven activists who challenged a Redskins trademark issued in 1967, The Washington Post reported. The activists, who claimed the name is so offensive it does not deserve trademark protection status, won their case before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board in 1999. The board ruled the name could be interpreted as offensive to Native Americans.

Trademark law bans registration of a name disparages living or dead persons, or brings "them into contempt, or disrepute."

But the NFL team appealed to the federal courts, the Post said. A trial court and federal appeals court ruled for the team, citing the doctrine of "laches," which is a defense against claims that should have been filed years earlier, the newspaper said.

Monday, the Supreme Court considered only whether the suit was barred by laches, the Post said.

The challengers had cited an earlier ruling in a separate case from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit written by then U.S. Circuit Judge Samuel Alito which said disparaging trademarks can be challenged at any time, the Post said. Alito took Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's place on the Supreme Court when she retired in the 2005 term.

However, in the Native American challenge, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that Alito's opinion was just a suggestion of how to interpret the law, the Post said.