The Not-So-Saintly Fight Over the Fleur-de-Lis

© & ™ owned by New Orleans Louisiana Saints, LLC, Metairie, LA

The NFL’s New Orleans Saints recently won a contest that was more about the courtroom than the football field. On April 14, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled in favor of the team and its use and registration of its team logo, one of which is the fleur-de-lis. The specific fleur-de-lis design at issue (shown above) has been a registered trademark of the New Orleans Saints organization since 1974.  

The Backstory

Mr. Michel Messier, of Rutland, Vermont, sued the Saints organization at the Trademark Trial and Appeals Board (“TTAB”) of the USPTO in 2023. This led to a dismissal of his case, which led to the appeal to the U.S. Federal Circuit Court. In April, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit dismissed Mr. Messier’s lawsuit over the alleged trademark.  

Who is Mr. Messier and Why Did He Sue?

Mr. Messier claims to be a “direct descendant of the Kings of France,” apparently by way of Scotland, Aragon and Castile. His original petition filed with the TTAB in 2023 sought to cancel the New Orleans Saints registered mark on the grounds that Mr. Messier’s branch of the family had been using the fleur-de-lis as its family crest since the family’s arrival in North America in or around 1534 (and internationally prior to that date).  

Why Was the Suit Dismissed?

As upheld by the recent ruling by the Court of Appeals, the TTAB held that Mr. Messier did not have standing to sue for cancellation of the Saints’ mark because he and his family had not been using the mark in commerce. The Court of Appeals was careful to point out that “use” of the mark could also include licensing and gaining revenues from the mark were not actively being undertaken by the family, meaning that the purported descendants of the Kings of France’s family, as included in Mr. Messier’s branch, currently have no commercial interest in their alleged centuries-old family symbol, despite Messier’s contention that his family had used the mark in connection with the way that it had “sponsored, explored, mapped, marked, settled, and developed trade routes/hubs” in or about the year 1534 in the New Orleans area.

Trademark Law

With no present commercial interest in the mark at issue, the Messier family could not point to any way in which it is being damaged by the continued registration and use of the Saints’ trademark.  

Additionally, in order to cancel this – or indeed any – specific mark, the Petitioner (Mr. Messier, in this case) should ideally show that they are in the same field or industry as the mark Owner, which points to a type of unfair competition that can be redressed by the courts.  

Needless to say, the Messier family is not in the business of running an NFL or any other type of sports team, nor are they putting on sporting competitions that would compete with the Saints’ activities. As such, Messier could point to no damages whatsoever that were being inflicted upon his interests by the Saints’ continued use of the mark.

The family’s use of the mark when it allegedly “sponsored, explored, mapped, marked, settled, and developed trade routes/hubs” in New Orleans almost 500 years ago (as detailed in Messier’s original petition) was not enough to overcome the fact that it does not presently use the mark. The Court of Appeals specifically noted several times that Messier’s and his family’s current and ongoing use of the fleur-de-lis mark is “private”.  

It should be noted that “private” uses of a family crest are a good example of “use of a trademark” that is not commercial and therefore cannot serve as the basis of registration of any mark with the USPTO. In order for marks to be registered in the United States, the Owner must be using the marks for commercial activity of some kind. Simply having an illustrious family history does not confer ownership of a mark that is otherwise being used in commerce by someone else.

The New Orleans Saints – and their fans – will be relieved.

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