Wow.....guess I need to contact my lawyer and start a lawsuit against Notre Dame. The term "Fighting Irish" is offensive to me. So who's next? The Blackhawks? The...
Harry I. replied:
I'd say Notre Dame doesn't have much to worry about unless you can provide documentation showing that "Fighting Irish" was derogatory at the time the school registered its trademark. If, however, they were named the "Fightin' Gingers" or "Fightin' Micks", they would certainly have something to worry about. Also, the Chicago Blackhawks are named for the military unit its founder served in during World War I, which was in turn named for a specific person, Black Hawk, who helped the British in the War of 1812. Nothing derogatory about it. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_American_mascot_controversy#Chicago_Blackhawks) As for the twins, I think you'd have an extremely tough time proving that the word "twin" is offensive or derogatory.