In Pro Football Inc. v. Harjo, several American Indians were challenging the validity of the Washington Redskins trademark on the ground that it was “disparaging,” which trademarks aren’t allowed to be. (The federal trademark statute provides that, among other things, marks generally aren’t allowed when, among other things, they “[c]onsist[] of or comprise[] immoral, deceptive, or scandalous matter; or matter which may disparage or falsely suggest a connection with persons, living or dead, institutions, beliefs, or national symbols, or bring them into contempt, or disrepute.”) If the plaintiffs had won, that wouldn’t have legally barred the trademark owners from using the mark; but it would have stripped the owners of some of the legal rights they’d have to police the mark against infringers, and thus would have given the owners some incentive to switch to a fully legally protected mark.
The trouble is that the challengers apparently waited for a long time in bringing the lawsuit, which triggers “laches, an equitable defense that applies where there is