USDA seeks dismissal of pork trademark lawsuit

The USDA has filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) against the agency over the sale by National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) to the National Pork Board of the “Pork. The Other White Meat” trademarks.  In 2006 NPPC sold the trademarks to the Pork Board for approximately $35 million. It financed the purchase over 20 years. USDA (which oversees the federal Pork Checkoff) approved the purchase, and the Pork Board’s annual payment was set at about $3 million. Then in 2012, an Iowa farmer, along with HSUS and the Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, filed suit against USDA, alleging that the trademarks were overvalued. The suit sought to have the sale rescinded. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Circuit dismissed the suit for lack of standing, but in August 2015 a federal appeals court reinstated it.