Washington
Because the right to hold
personal property is so fundamental to a free society, many Americans are
justifiably appalled that the United States Patent & Trademark Office has
arbitrarily chosen to remove trademark protections from the Washington
Redskins’ name and brand.
Unintended Happy Consequences
Perhaps I have once again
fallen into the trap of seeing the bright side of everything, whether optimism
is warranted or not. Maybe I just have a
hard time facing ugly truths and run home to momma for a happy ending—just like
story time when I was little. Or,
perhaps this is yet another example of bureaucrats’ making decisions that
result in the exact opposite of their stated intent.
If I am right, and the law
of unintended consequences trumps bureaucratic regulations, Chief Zee may be
poised to offend millions more people than he ever could as the protected trademark of a single sports team.
All we have to do is remain
calm and think this through.
Q: Does the removal of patent protection mean
the team
has to change its name?
A: No. It
only means that the team does not have the right to sue organizations that use
their logo without the team’s permission.
That is all. In other words, under this patent office
decision, ANYONE can now use the Redskin logo. "Chief Zee Is Free!" and will
become a member of the public domain—free for anyone to use.
Q: Even if the logo is free for anyone to use,
will anyone do so and risk offending so many potential customers?
A: It depends on how many people
are actually offended by the name “Redskins”.
(They are called the “Washington” “Redskins" and people are offended by
the “Redskin” part???)
The Consequence:
Members of native tribes don’t seem to care and freely use “Indian” icons with their businesses, products, communities and schools. Crafty marketers will start to use the Redskins' name, logo and variations thereof because there is scant evidence that anyone-- other than the usual crowd of terminally-offended and politicians who try to benefit from meaningless controversy-- gives so much as a gopher turd about the entire kerfuffle.
With the “offensive” brand
in the public domain, prepare to start seeing it EVERYWHERE:
Washington Redskins Moving Forward
As for the future of the
Washington Redskins, I suggest they do change their name. With a little subversive creativity, they can
choose a name that is truly an offensive joke—one that is so subtle, the
bureaucrats will never figure out that the joke is on them:
