Media Advisory: UB experts available to discuss cancellation of Redskins’ trademarks by U.S. Patent Office

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Two professors of Native American studies at the University at Buffalo are available to take press calls regarding the U.S. Patent Office canceling six trademarks belonging to the Washington Redskins football team, saying they are offensive to Native Americans:

• American historian Donald Grinde Jr., PhD, professor of American studies, UB Department of Transnational Studies, an expert in Indian activism in the U.S. and the author of 12 books on Native American history and political issues. Other specialties: Native American studies, Haudenosaunee/Iroquois history, Native American thought, U.S. Indian Policy since 1871, environmental studies and Native Americans.

• Kari Winter, PhD, professor of American studies, Department of Transnational Studies, specialist in the history of the Atlantic world, contemporary Native American issues and literature, slavery and issues of resistance, dissent and revolution.

Background

The U.S. Patent Office's Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ruled “these registrations must be canceled because they were disparaging to Native Americans,” a decision rendered in response to a suit brought by five Native Americans. The board said, however, that it lacks the authority to prevent the team from continuing to use the trademarks.