YAKIMA, Wash. – A New York company has reportedly been making cigarettes sporting the name of the Yakama tribe and selling them to customers on and off East Coast tribal reservations.
Now, Jacobs Tobacco Company is the subject of a federal trademark infringement lawsuit filed by Jack Fiander, a lawyer and enrolled member of the Yakama Nation.
“A name is our identity,” Fiander said. “We are Yakama and that was taken without permission and used on a commercial product.”
Fiander, whose tribal name is Toobshudud, says Yakama is federally trademarked. He says in order for that name to be used on a commercial product like cigarettes, a company would have to get explicit permission from tribal officials.
“If you took the Disney name ‘Disney’ and put it on a product without permission, the Disney legal team would be on you mercilessly,” Fiander said. He says this case is no different.
By using the Yakama name, Fiander argues, the Akwasasne, N.Y.-based company deceives consumers into thinking that his tribe is either making the actual cigarettes or is supporting the manufacturing of those cigarettes.
“I think it’s offensive,” Fiander said. “As tribal people, we’re not mascots.”
Read more at . https://www.yaktrinews.com/news/were-not-mascots-local-lawyer-sues-new-york-company-over-yakama-brand-cigarettes/1132552313
