Anyone who’s followed this blog knows that I’ve done a few (really more than a few) posts about the evolution of the Washington football team’s trademark battles. As a reminder, after ultimately winning its trademark fight to obtain the Redskins trademarks, the team retired the name and undertook a lengthy effort to select a new one, ultimately landing on the Commanders. The team’s newest woes stem from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issuing an initial rejection of the Commanders trademark for two reasons. First, the USPTO indicated that the name is confusingly similar to the marks owned by a sports management company that puts on an annual football game between U.S. military academies called the Commander’s Classic. Second, the USPTO noted that there was already pending applications by a man in D.C. who had been trying to guess what team name would be picked.

However, the USPTO did grant a trademark to the team for the Washington Football Team, so that’s something. We’ll see how this continues to unfold over the coming weeks (or, if the past is an indicator, the coming years).

[View source.]