On April 14, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a decision dismissing a legal challenge to the New Orleans Saints’ registered fleur-de-lis design mark. According to the petition for cancellation, the petitioner claimed to be “a direct descendant of the Kings of France (Scotland, Aragon, and Castille),” thereby entitling his family to “intellectual property rights to the Fleur de Lys, Orleans, and Saints marks.” (Petition at p. 3).
These legal proceedings were originally filed before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), which is a division of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. A three-member board of administrative trademark judges issued decisions denying the cancellation request on January 26, 2024 and June 26, 2024. The board concluded that a hereditary connection to French royalty did not create a sufficient, survivable claim under the Trademark Act because the petitioner did not “allege any commercial interests in the mark, or that he owns or conducts any business under the mark, and thus he cannot allege entitlement.” (June 26, 2024, Order at p. 5).
In affirming the TTAB panel, the Circuit Court held that the petitioner had failed to meet his burden under federal court standing requirements. Specifically, he had not shown that he was injured by the Saints’ trademark because he had “not alleged that he or his family make, offer for sale, or sell any products or services using a fleur-de-lis design.” (Opinion at p. 4). Without standing, the Circuit Court determined that it lacked jurisdiction over the appeal and therefore dismissed the case.
Locating Federal Court Filings
In addition to being one of nine U.S. Supreme Court depository libraries that receives copies of Supreme Court records and briefs, the Law Library of Congress also has a collection of historic federal circuit court filings. Researchers who are interested in reviewing these collections should start by visiting our research guide, U.S. Federal Appellate Courts: Records and Briefs. This guide provides coverage data for our federal circuit court pleadings collection, as well as links to additional resources that can help researchers track down these materials.
These filings are also increasingly available online through websites like Court Listener’s RECAP Archive. Researchers should keep in mind, however, that open access websites with court filings are crowd-sourced, meaning that users who obtain these pleadings will upload them to the site voluntarily. As a result, docket entries on these sites may be incomplete.
If you are having trouble tracking down federal appellate court records, please send us a message on Ask A Librarian.
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