I try to not preach, but, I admit that I've been pretty preachy in this thread. Here's how I feel about the subject:
I do believe that people are truly offended by the word (people that matter in this argument, Native Americans, First Peoples).
The right thing for Snyder to do is change the name.
This IMO has nothing to do with the patent office, it has nothing to do with politics, it has nothing to do with PC. I believe that people are bringing those elements into the argument as a crutch. I believe that a "right minded" individual when looking at this can come to only one conclusion, change the name.
This is the 4th or 5th thread on this topic in the last year. I find it ironic that those arguing that the patent office has no say in the matter are the same people who argued that Washington should keep their team name in each of those previous threads. The same people are arguing the same side of the argument using different excuses based on the thread title. Funny how that works.