The original shield of the New Orleans Saints It was presented in 1967 And, although it has undergone modifications over the years, a lis flower has always been the emblem of this American football team. Now a Judicial dispute related to this elegant and recognizable logo within American sport.
A man who claims to be a “direct descendant of several monarchies”, He has lost the legal battle to snatch the property of the lis flower symbol to the New Orleans Saintsafter a United States Court of Appeals determined that I had no legitimacy To claim a brand registered by the franchise decades ago.
The man in question, Michel J. Messier, from Rutland (Vermont)he argued that His family possessed the intellectual property rights of the flower of Lis due to his alleged real lineageciting ancestral ties with the monarchs of France, Scotland, Aragon and Castile. The NFL franchise, although it used the symbol since 1967, did not register the brand until 1974 for use in professional football.
Now a United States court has dismissed Messier's appeal, stating that This had not alleged any commercial interest in the registered trademark nor is there a reasonable belief of damage for its use. According to the court, there is no damage because Messier “has not claimed that he or his family manufactures or sell any product or service with a lis flower design.”
The court considers that the claimant's arguments are based on mere hypotheses. As Messier explained in his resource, His family has used this design privately for centuries and speculated with the possibility that one day he could license the brand. In reality, the demand in question also covered the use of the flower of Lis in places such as the Cathedral of San Luis in New Orleans and the memory articles that were sold there. None of this has prospered.
