American Apparel's former Navajo hipster panties.

When it comes to the legal system, don’t mess with the American Indian tribes.  Specifically, the Navajo are as fearsome in the court of law as they were on the plains of the Old West, and American Apparel has found this out the hard way.  The Navajo Nation has forced American Apparel to change the name of 20 items, from a Navajo flask to Navajo panties.  As it turns out, the Navajo have 10 different trademarks on the word Navajo, covering a wide range of products from clothing and textiles to household products.  American Apparel has since changed everything from Navajo to “printed” in their marketing material.

“When products that have absolutely no connection to the Navajo Nation, its entities, its people, and their products are marketed and retailed under the guise that they are Navajo in origin, the Navajo Nation does not regard this as benign or trivial,” said Brian Lewis, an attorney for the tribe.  “It takes appropriate action to maintain distinctiveness and clarity of valid name association in the market and society.”

I’m just glad that this didn’t drag out into the court system over a misappropriation of tribal fashions.  I’m not huge fan of either party in this case (I don’t know any Navajo and I don’t like American Apparel), but I am a fan of avoiding useless lawsuits, and this is definitely one of those.  Kudos to all involved for settling it like adults and not getting bogged down in monetary settlements and the like.

Tags: Navajo Nation, American Apparel, Navajo Nation forces American Apparel to change product names, Glen Senk, Brian Lewis, American Apparel changes 20 product names to avoid lawsuit from Navajo Nation, Navajo, Native Americans, unusual lawsuits, trademark infringement

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