A federal judge ordered the cancellation of the Washington Redskins' federal trademark registration, ruling the team name was disparaging to Native Americans.
The Redskins lost in court Wednesday when US District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee - in his 70-page ruling - ordered the US Patent and Trademark Office to schedule cancellation of six federal trademark registrations owned by the club.
The cancellation does not go into effect until the Redskins have exhausted the appeals process in the federal court system. The judge emphasised that the team remains free to use the name as it chooses and that the ruling means only that the team loses the specific legal protections of its federal registrations.
The Redskins will appeal the decision to the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond.
"I am surprised by the judge's decision to prevent us from presenting our evidence in an open trial," Redskins president Bruce Allen said in a statement.
"We look forward to winning on appeal after a fair and impartial review of the case. We are convinced that we will win because the facts and the law are on the side of our franchise that has proudly used the name Redskins for more than 80 years."
