Philadelphia-based retailer Urban Outfitters could potentially have to pay millions of dollars for using the word “Navajo” in its products.
A federal judge in Arizona ruled last week that the Navajo Nation did not delay the filing of its trademark infringement lawsuit against Urban Outfitters – a tactic the retail giant claimed had occurred since the tribe first took legal action in 2012, or about 11 years after the company began using “Navajo” to describe its products, according to the Albuquerque Journal.
The tribe has not named a specific dollar amount that it seeks in damages, however it could soar into the millions if a court rules in their favor.
On some claims, the tribe wants all the profits generated from the Navajo-themed sales. On others, it wants $1,000 per day per item, or three times the profit generated by marketing and retail of products using the name. Lindsay DeMoss, one of a handful of attorneys listed for Urban Outfitters, declined to comment. The company had said in court documents that granting the tribe a monetary windfall for a situation it created with unexplained silence “would be inequitable and unjust.”
The Navajo Nation has spent nearly four years in a legal battle with Urban Outfitters for alleged trademark infringement, violations of the Indian Arts and Crafts Act, and other allegations.
