WASHINGTON (AP) -A federal judge has sided with the Washington Redskins in a lawsuit brought by American Indians who consider the team's name racially offensive.

A group of Native Americans has been trying to get the courts to cancel the Redskins' trademark so that the team could no longer market its name.

But a U.S. district judge in Washington says the plaintiffs waited too long to bring their case to court. She added that her ruling does not decide ``the appropriateness of Native American imagery for team names.''