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The Washington Commanders’ business side has been hit again.
Wednesday, we learned that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has denied the trademark application for the Washington Commanders.
The decision was actually rendered on May 18, and the USPTO cited two reasons for their rejection of the trademark application: 1) There is a trademark for the “Commander’s Classic” and 2) Application has already been made for “Space Commanders” and “Wolf Commanders.”
The concern appears to be potential confusion over the “Commanders Classic,” which is an annual game between the Air Force Academy and Army, sponsored by Lockheed Martin.
Also, Washington fans will recall the name Martin McCaulay from past years, where he has invested time in filing applications for sports teams’ names. In this particular case, the concern is McCaulay had already filed applications for the names “Wolf Commanders” and “Space Commanders”.
This rejection does not mean the Washington franchise will again need to change its name. In addition, frankly, the “potential confusion” would appear to be minimal and should be worked out with little to no problem.
What will be the obstacle will be the court process. This type of process is much more crowded and delayed than it was even only five years ago. The below image from Twitter displays the expected delays.
Currently, it takes the USPTO over 10 months to begin review of a new trademark filing.
This is a historic delay.
It has never taken the USPTO longer to review a new trademark filing.
Ever.#trademarks pic.twitter.com/t2bLFO9GIc
— Josh Gerben (@JoshGerben) May 22, 2023
The Commanders released the following statement via John Keim of ESPN.
From a Commanders’ spokesperson: “The trademark office’s recent nonfinal office action is an ordinary course step in the standard trademark registration process. We will respond to the Trademark Office’s office action and are confident that our registration will be issued.” https://t.co/UNPk0jSRRT
— John Keim (@john_keim) May 24, 2023