WASHINGTON — The case against the Washington Redskins nickname begins again Thursday.

The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board will hear a petition brought by a group of Native Americans who say the Redskins should lose their federal trademark protection. They cite a law that prohibits registered names that are disparaging, scandalous, contemptuous or disreputable.

The board stripped the Redskins of the trademark in 1999, but the ruling was overturned in large part on a technicality. The same technicality doesn’t apply to the new group of plaintiffs.

The motive is to force Redskins owner Dan Snyder into a change by taking away his exclusive rights to market the team’s name.

The Redskins have said their nickname honors Native Americans and that they don’t mean to offend anybody.

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