The U.S, District Court in Washington, D.C. granted the National Pork Producer’s motion to intervene in the lawsuit brought by the Humane Society of the United States against the USDA over the sale of the “Pork, the Other White Meat” trademarks. NPPC sold the trademarks to the Pork Board for $35 million and financed the purchase over 20 years, making the Pork Board’s annual payments around 3 million dollars. In 2012, HSUS, a lone farmer in Iowa, and the Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement filed suit against the USDA, seeking to have the sale rescinded. The U.S. District Court dismissed it for lack of standing, but it was reinstated by the Court of Appeals. Subsequently, the USDA agreed to review the purchase and the contract valuations of the trademarks. The Ag Marketing Service said the trademarks are worth between $113 million and $132 million. HSUS is pressing forward with the lawsuit, in spite of the trademarks being worth four times what they were sold for in 2006. HSUS pegs the value at between $2.6 million and $17.6 million dollars.
Source: NAFB News Service