The Billboard Stays Up in Louisiana

The Huffington Post reports:

A “billboard criticizing Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) for his opposition to Medicaid expansion may remain, a federal judge ruled on Monday in a trademark infringement case.

The state of Louisiana sued MoveOn.org in March for the billboard’s design, accusing the liberal policy group of ripping off its multi-million dollar tourism brand and seeking an injunction ordering the billboard removed. The billboard parodies the state’s “Louisiana: Pick Your Passion” motto and logo.

U.S. District Judge Shelly D. Dick ruled Monday that the billboard is permissible, saying that Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne, whose office developed the tourism slogan and sued MoveOn.org, “underestimates the intelligence and reasonableness of people viewing the billboard.”

“The State has not demonstrated a substantial likelihood of prevailing on its burden of proving confusion by viewers of the billboard. Furthermore, the State has failed to demonstrate a compelling reason to curtail MoveOn.org.’s political speech in favor of protecting of the State’s service mark,” Dick wrote in her opinion. “There has been no showing of irreparable injury to the State.”

MoveOn.org had argued that the billboard was protected under the First Amendment. Anna Galland, the group’s civic action executive director, released a statement expressing disappointment in the state’s “baseless lawsuit.”

 

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