Once federally protected as an endangered species, gray wolves were delisted following their successful reintroduction to the Northern Rockies. Now gray wolves once again face widespread trapping and hunting—the very perils that had decimated their numbers before they won federal protection.

White & Case pro bono client International Wildlife Coexistence Network (IWCN) launched its #RelistWolvesNow campaign in October 2021 to advocate for the relisting of gray wolves on the US endangered species list.

Another advocacy organization, Wolves of the Rockies (WOTR), had launched its own campaign, #RelistWolves, a few months before the debut of IWCN's campaign. Claiming to own exclusive trademark rights in the term "RelistWolves" and the "#RelistWolves" hashtag, WOTR filed a complaint against IWCN for trademark infringement. IWCN turned to White & Case.

Two courts, two wins

WOTR first filed a complaint for trademark infringement in Montana federal district court. The White & Case pro bono team, led by partner Stefan Mentzer and associate Alexander Reid in our New York office, won dismissal on personal jurisdiction grounds by persuading the court that despite being accessible to, and seen by, Montana residents, IWCN's campaign was aimed at a nationwide audience, while WOTR's was limited to Montana.

Next, WOTR sued IWCN for trademark infringement in federal district court in Idaho. White & Case defeated WOTR's motion for a preliminary injunction, persuading the court that WOTR was unlikely to succeed on the merits because WOTR did not own trademark rights in "RelistWolves" or "#RelistWolves."

"Nobody owns exclusive rights to the descriptive phrase ‘relist wolves,'" Reid explains. "The term is free for the public to use and cannot serve as a trademark because third parties already use it to advocate for protecting wolves."

Besides agreeing with White & Case's free speech defense, the court found that WOTR had not suffered irreparable harm because the organization could not prove that confusion between its campaign and IWCN's could erode WOTR's partnerships or donor base. 

A final victory for IWCN—and for wolves

In December 2022 WOTR dropped all its claims, and the Idaho federal court dismissed WOTR's case. According to Reid, the ruling "preserves the right of other groups and individuals to advocate to ‘relist wolves,' and to affirm the public's First Amendment right to use common, descriptive terms to advocate for issues of public importance."

Suzanne Asha Stone, IWCN's founder and Executive Director Board President, says, "This victory allows the IWCN team to focus on its mission, which in addition to wolves, includes helping to save chimpanzees in Uganda and working on a new bill with US Senator Cory Booker that will provide federal protection for iconic species such as the American bison."

Stan Tekiela © Getty Images
Gray wolf pup and adult in central Minnesota, United States.