After mounting corporate and public pressure, the Washington NFL team has finally got rid of its name “redskins” after 87 years. A prophetic Virginia man hopes to capitalize on the change, having filed dozens of trademark claims for possible new names since 2014.
Washington owner Dan Snyder and new head coach Ron Rivera “will develop a new name and approach,” the team said Monday. However, Martin McCaulay, an actuary from Alexandria, Virginia, jumped on speculation of a name change before the announcement.
McCaulay has filed numerous trademark claims in the past six years for possible nicknames for the Washington soccer team. A CBS News search of the United States Patent and Trademark Office database found at least seven names registered in the past month alone. These include Washington Red Wolves, Washington Redstarts, Washington Monuments, Washington Americans, and Washington Veterans. The idea, presumably, would be to sell the name to Snyder if Washington chose one of the registered names.
McCaulay told CBS News that he emailed the NFL on July 4, listing all the trademarks they may have at no charge, but they have not responded. He claimed he wants “to give them to the NFL for free to facilitate the name change.” However, in a series of tweets on Tuesday, he seemed open to the possibility of a monetary exchange.
“I think ten days of offering the NFL my free trademarks is enough,” McCaulay tweeted. “My new response will be somewhat vague, as I never expected anything, but I will consider any offer they want to make.”
Whether McCaulay, or anyone else who tries something similar, would see any benefit depends on the “intention” to use the names, according to a legal expert. David Leichtman, managing partner of Leichtman Law PLLC, questioned the possibility of such a scheme being successful.
“So if they correctly chose what the Washington soccer team decides to use as their new name … then the question will be, at the time they introduced the brand, what was their true intention to present it?” Leichtman told CBS News. “I think it is highly unlikely that the trademark office or a court will say that someone who was filing the trademark application office for the sole purpose of speculation actually had a good faith attempt to use the name in commerce.”
“NFL football teams and properties are known to be really aggressive in enforcing their brands and trademarks,” he added. “So it would be surprising if they didn’t do something about it quickly if it turns out that one of these names is the one they intend to use.”
McCaulay was aware of this, however, to further his claim, he designed a website where he sells T-shirts, mugs, wine glasses, and other merchandise with some of the names he registered. He told CBS News that he is personally supporting the Washington soccer team in choosing Redtails as its new name.
The Washington NFL franchise announced Monday it was “removing” the Redskins’ name and logo immediately, after decades of criticism that both are offensive to Native Americans. The move came less than two weeks after owner Dan Snyder launched a “thorough review” amid pressure from sponsors. FedEx, Nike, Pepsi and Bank of America lined up against the name, which was given to the franchise in 1933, when the team was still in Boston.
.
