The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has denied the trademark application for the Washington Commanders, citing two reasons for the denial, according to trademark attorney Josh Gerben.
One reason is because of the existing trademark for “Commanders' Classic” while the other is due to pending applications filed by a D.C.-area man, according to Gerben.
The Commanders' Classic is the name of the annual Army vs Air Force football game. Also, Martin McCaulay filed trademarks for “Washington Space Commanders” and “Washington Wolf Commanders” when he was trying to squat on the team's potential new name, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.
The Commanders can fight the issue, and attempt to work out a deal to use the name. Martin McCaulay has said he will surrender anything he owns to the team, and has been saying that for years, according to Florio.
The question comes down to whether the new ownership group led by Josh Harris wants to continue with the name, or put their own stamp on things with a full rebrand. It will be interesting to see what the group wants to do.
If the Josh Harris group, along with other faces like Magic Johnson want to keep the Commanders name, they should be able to do so. However, with all that is involved in this, there is enough reason for the new ownership group with Harris and Magic Johnson to rebrand the franchise.
For now, we wait for the NFL to approve the sale of the Commanders from Daniel Snyder to the Harris group.
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