A federal appeals court has ordered the Redskins and a group of five Native Americans into settlement talks over their lawsuit stemming from a regulatory body invalidating the team’s marks because the club name is arguably offensive. Last year, the Trademark Trial & Appeal Board ruled in favor of the Native Americans, who had asked it to invalidate the team’s trademarks as they argued the term "Redskin" is a pejorative. The club sued the Native Americans in federal court, seeking to have the decision overturned. Earlier this year, that court declined to do so. The team earlier this month appealed to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which yesterday ordered the case into mediation. The order said, “There are several purposes for this conference: to prevent unnecessary motions or delay by attempting to resolve any procedural problems in the case, to identify and clarify the main issues being raised in the appeal, and to explore any possibilities there may be for settlement. All counsel are expected to discuss settlement with their clients and then attend the conference with authority to initiate and respond to settlement proposals.” Settlement is unlikely, given that Redskins Owner Dan Snyder has said he will never change the team name.
