Harjo et al v. Pro-Football, Inc. v. , 30 U.S.P.Q.2d 1828, 1833, 1994 WL 262249, was a case before the United States Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, regarding six trademarks that contain or are derived from the word Redskins registered with the Patent and Trademark Office.[1]
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The plaintiffs were Suzan Shown Harjo (Cheyenne and Hodulgee Muscogee); Raymond D. Apodaca (Ysleta del Sur Pueblo); Manley A. Begay, Jr., Ed.D. (Diné); Vine Deloria, Jr., Esq. (Standing Rock Sioux, 1933–2005); Norbert S. Hill, Jr. (Oneida); William A. Means, Jr. (Oglala Lakota); and Mateo Romero (Cochiti Pueblo).[2]
After case was filed on September 12, 1992, Pro-Football, Inc. waited three months to filed a motion to dismiss the case. The defendants raised twelve defenses that included laches. On April 2, 1999, the three trademark judges of the PTO ruled unanimously in favor of the plaintiffs.[2]
Pro-Football appealed the ruling in the United States District Court, by filing Pro-Football, Inc. v. Harjo. The District Court ruled against the Native American appellants on July 15, 2005 on two grounds: "The district court granted summary judgment to Pro-Football on two alternate grounds, holding that the TTAB should have found the Native Americans' petition barred by laches and that in any event the TTAB's cancellation decision was unsupported by substantial evidence."[3]
The Native Americans appealed the district court ruling, on the grounds that the district court used the wrong standard in applying laches.[3] The US Supreme Court declined the plaintiff's petition for a writ of certiorari and refused to hear the Native American group's appeal.[4]
Currently, Blackhorse et al v. Football, Inc., filed August 11, 2006, addresses the disparaging name of the Washington team and is not subject to the laches that affected the decision in Harjo et al v. Pro Football, Inc..[2]