The Washington Commanders may not be able to get too comfortable with their new name as the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has denied the trademark application for the name “Commanders, according to trademark attorney Josh Gerben.
The main reasons for the denial of the trademark were cited as being: (1) the existence of a trademark for “Commanders’ Classic”; and (2) pending applications filed by a man in the D.C. area.
The Commanders’ Classic is the official name of the annual collegiate football game between Army and Air Force, and additionally, Martin McCaulay filed trademarks for “Washington Space Commanders” and “Washington Wolf Commanders" during a time when he was attempting to lock up potential names for the Washington franchise.
While the news certainly seems devastating to Washington, there is still hope as MaCaulay has said, over the past several years, that he would surrender anything he owns to the team.
Washington can certainly fight the matter, and also work out a deal for the name with MaCaulay, but the question then becomes if the ownership group wants to do so.
Choosing not to, or failing to reach an agreement will put Washington back in the hunt for a new franchise name.
"They're trying to get a trademark registered on a single word like Commanders for the name of a sports team" Gerben, who is based in Washington, said, according to USA Sports. "That also comes with all the merch that goes along with that, and there's some initial issues the PTO cited," Gerben added.
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