The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has ruled in favor of the National Pork Producers Council and dismissed a lawsuit brought by the Humane Society of the United States. The court rejected HSUS’s attempted challenge to the National Pork Board’s federally approved purchase of trademarks associated with the Pork the Other White Meat campaign from the NPPC and payments associated with the agreement. NPPC’s Michael Formica says it’s a huge win for all checkoff programs.
He says to bring the court challenge HSUS had to file their case with one producer who claimed the checkoff funds he paid could have been used in a better way. Formica says the lower court ruled in their favor.
Formica says they then appealed the decision and had their appeal upheld reversing the lower court decision.
HSUS had claimed it and others were injured because proceeds from the Other White Meat transaction were misappropriated by the pork checkoff. The Appeals Court found HSUS and its fellow plaintiffs failed to prove they suffered harm from the transaction.
