Judge orders cancellation of Redskins trademark registration

FILE - In this Aug. 28, 2009 file photo, the Washington Redskins logo is seen on the field before the start of a preseason NFL football game in Landover, Md.  A judge is hearing arguments from the Washington Redskins on June 23, 2015, that canceling the team's trademarks would infringe its free-speech rights. The hearing is scheduled on a lawsuit to overturn a decision by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board to cancel the trademark on the grounds that it may be offensive to Native Americans. (AP Photo/Nick Wass, File)

A U.S. District Court judge handed the Washington Redskins its greatest loss yet in a legal battle over the team’s trademarks.

Judge Gerald Bruce Lee ruled in favor of five Native Americans who argued the Redskins trademarks were derogatory. He found that the six trademarks at issue “consisted of matter that ‘may disparage’ a substantial composite of Native Americans.”

The cancellations of the six trademarks won’t take effect until the NFL team has exhausted all of its options in the federal appeals process, which could take the case to the Supreme Court. The ruling does not prevent the team from using the designs at issue.

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