The trademark application for the Washington Commanders has been denied by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, per trademark attorney Josh Gerben.
The USPTO made its ruling on May 18. The office gave two reasons for the denial, citing an existing trademark for “Commanders Classic” and pending applications filed in D.C. The second reason is intriguing.
Martin McCaulay, a DC-area man known for squatting trademarks, filed applications for “Washington Space Commanders” and “Washington Wolf Commanders” in August 2021, attempting to guess the team’s new name before the revealing in February 2022.
However, the Commanders remain confident the team’s trademark will prevail.
“The trademark office’s recent nonfinal office action is an ordinary course step in the standard trademark registration process,” a Commanders’ spokesperson said. “We will respond to the Trademark Office’s office action and are confident that our registration will be issued.”
The spokesperson also responded to the two reasons for the denial.
“In particular, there is no likelihood of confusion between our COMMANDERS marks and the COMMANDERS’ CLASSIC football game between the Army and the Air Force. We do not believe that any trademark registrations that were obtained by squatters who attempted to capitalize on the Club’s name change should stand in the way of our registration.”
The process for trademark filing is not uncommon. Gerben explains that the Commanders will file a response, arguing that an NFL team won’t be confused with a single college game. The team also could attempt to buy out the rights or sign a co-existence agreement.
As for McCaulay, he has been squatting on trademarks for the Washington franchise since 2014. He anticipated Washington would have to change its moniker from Redskins as the name is racially insensitive.
McCauley recently told The Washington Post that he intends to turn over any trademarks the team needs without cost. Will he keep his word? The Commanders also can prove the validity of McCauley’s filing.
Nonetheless, the trademark denial is fuel for the contingency of fans that want the team to rebrand once again. The Commanders is the second name change for the team since 2020, as the team temporarily changed to the Washington Football Team.
Some fans are hoping the team rebrands once again after Josh Harris officially buys the team from Dan Snyder to Josh Harris is completed. That’s unlikely to happen, at least not until 2025 at the earliest.
