Venable partner Andrew Price was quoted in a July 22, 2015 Law360 article on the top legal decisions in sports so far this year. Specifically, Price commented on a federal judge's ruling to uphold the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's decision to cancel the trademark registrations of the Washington Redskins.
"From my point of view this is really more of a 'PR' problem than a 'circle R' problem for the team," said Price. "The Redskins don't need the legal presumption of a federal registration as much as lesser known brand owners do...the real problem that the Redskins have is that lay people...are going to equate this with a loss of trademark rights entirely." He added, "even in the absence of the registration, the team still enjoys common-law trademark protection in court stemming from its more than 80-year usage of the name."