The Washington Football Team got denied a trademark of that name by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, which found a similar trademark already exists. The office’s refusal was because it is likely “consumers would be confused, mistaken, or deceived as to the commercial source of the goods and/or services of the parties.”
The original application asked for WFT or Washington Football Team to be used on clothing, namely, fleece tops and bottoms, headwear, caps being headwear, knit hats, t-shirts, and other apparel. Philip McCaulay is the legal owner of the “Washington Football Club” trademark and owns dozens of others with potential team nicknames.
Trademark expert Josh Gerben tweeted a copy of the USPTO refusal on Twitter Saturday.
If the WFT were to remove that part of the proposal, the team would be approved to use the “Washington Football Team” name, per Gerben. In order to get the refusal withdrawn, the team would either have to consider pursuing a “Petition to Cancel” McCaulay’s registration or buy out his rights.
It was back in 2020 when team owner Dan Snyder was forced to finally strip the team of the “Redskins” name after years of protests that the name was disparaging to Native Americans. They played last season under the temporary name that will also remain for the upcoming season.
CBS Sports reported that a list of names that they could eventually change to includes Ambassadors, Belters, Defenders, First City Football Club (FCFC), Griffins, Redwolves, Rubies and Swift.
