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Article Summary and Critique

Washington Football Team Faces Problem with Trademark Request After Patent Ruling by Greg Patuto

Recently, the Washington Football Team has found itself in jeopardy after a trademark issue. The football team risks losing its trademark name after issues were found in a patent ruling. Maybe the most straightforward name in the history of the NFL is the Washington Football Team. The trademark is rather simple; it states the city name and the sport the team plays. It cannot get any simpler than that. Or maybe it can. As it turns out, the request for the WTF trademark made by the team may be at stake due to confusion. The U.S. Trademark Office and U.S. Patent have denied this request due to another pre-existing application similar to that of Washington. The office denied the request on the grounds that they felt consumers would be mistaken, confused or deceived about the commercial source of the service and of goods of the involved parties. Back in 2013, the owner of the Washington Football Team, Daniel Snyder, made the decision to drop the nickname Redskins and simply –go with Football team as they settle on a new name for the teams. But the franchise began experiencing problems when they tried to trademark their names for apparel sales.

In the June 2021 article Patuto mentions that, one Phillip McCauley was awarded numerous trademarks for potential names dating back to May 2015 with Washington Football Club among them. This halted the trade marking process for WFT. The Club was given six months to respond to the refusal failure to which their application would be abandoned. As a result, the team had the options of submitting evidence and arguing against refusal, asking for a withdrawal or refusing to delete a class to which the refusal concerns. To make the matter worse, the office announced that there were two trademark fillings for the football team. This would continue to make the process even more complicated moving forward for both Synder and the company. Washington’s Football team Jason write said that the football’s name may stick as there are a group of fans that have made a case for it and this is according to the June 19th article by Patuto.

In my viewpoint, the team‘s trademark case should not be an issue of concern. I do not hate their trademark name “WFT” but I must say that the name sounds a bit controversial. The names may come off as confusing to receipts. But if the football club itself has no issues and the fans are satisfied with it, then I do not see any issue. I think the name fits perfectly because it describes the city and the sport being played. From my standpoint, the name is a good fit because it cannot get better than that. The abbreviation acronym sounds exactly like a word that has the exact same three letters that is considered a curse word. But come to think of it, if one is used to referring the team as Washington Football Club for so long, will not find it difficult to refer to them as the WFT. I believe that it is only a matter of perception and how conscious a person is when using the trademark WFT. In essence, to the fair, the ruling should have allowed the club to use any work that they are happy with. They should give them the freedom to brand themselves in whatever manner they like as long as it does not infringe on the sport’s laws. https://www.si.com/nfl/commanders/news/washington-football-team-problem-trademark-request-nfl