[martyup]

Trademarks and any other intellectual property rights actually aren't "free market"; they are government-granted monopolies. Because of the fixed costs of starting a business and the risk involved in doing so, society has decided to grant these monopoly rights. So, denying trademark protection is actually returning the Washington Football Team That Shall Not Be Named to the free market.

Good point regarding the purpose of patent and trademark laws.  However, protection is only really needed for desirable trade names.  The free market will decide if a trade name is offensive and, therefore, undesirable and unprofitable.  The movement to seek a change in the mascot of the Washington football team is part of the free market.  Had the movement hurt the profitability of the team, a name change might have been made voluntarily.  Here the government is using it's powers to affect the free market.

[martyup]

Trademarks and any other intellectual property rights actually aren't "free market"; they are government-granted monopolies. Because of the fixed costs of starting a business and the risk involved in doing so, society has decided to grant these monopoly rights. So, denying trademark protection is actually returning the Washington Football Team That Shall Not Be Named to the free market.

Good point regarding the purpose of patent and trademark laws.  However, protection is only really needed for desirable trade names.  The free market will decide if a trade name is offensive and, therefore, undesirable and unprofitable.  The movement to seek a change in the mascot of the Washington football team is part of the free market.  Had the movement hurt the profitability of the team, a name change might have been made voluntarily.  Here the government is using it's powers to affect the free market.