This "Navajo" flask was among hundreds of "Navajo" labeled items sold by Urban Outfitters. Image from The Fashion Law
The Navajo Nation has secured another favorable ruling in a dispute over the sales of unauthorized "Navajo" products. The tribe previously won the right to seek millions of dollars in damages from Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie. The fashion retailers marketed and sold products with the "Navajo" name as far back as 2008 but the items were not produced by the tribe or its members. Judge Bruce Black of the federal court in New Mexico has since granted an order to keep Free People in the tribe's case. The retailer is a subsidiary of the company that owns Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie. The ruling comes after Black dismissed two of the tribe's original complaints against Urban Outfitters. In a May 13 decision, he ruled that the "Navajo" name was not "famous" enough to proceed with dilution claims under federal and state law. But he followed up with a favorable ruling in regard to the Indian Arts and Crafts Act. On May 19, he said the truth-in-marketing law allows the tribe to seek "no less than $1,000 for each day on which the offer or display for sale or sale of a given type of good continues." A March 31 ruling gives a hint of the damages that the tribe might pursue. In 2008, Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie sold 30,733 "Navajo" units, according to the court. That number jumped to 78,231 in 2009 but went down to 49,182 in 2010, the ruling stated. However, the retailers appeared to be trying to capitalize on the "Navajo" name by nearly doubling the number of "Navajo" labeled product lines that were offered in those two years, from 42 in 2009 to 81 in 2010. That strategy bears out with the 2011 figures -- the companies sold 149,750 units of 242 "Navajo" labeled items, according to the ruling. Around that time, Native activists and consumers, along with fashion blogs, started questioning the presence of so many "Navajo" items for sale by Urban Outfitters. By that time, the tribe had already been communicating with Urban Outfitters. But a cease and desist letter apparently went ignored for several months before the company started removing the "Navajo" label from its product lines. The tribe followed up with a formal lawsuit in February 2012. More than four years later, Judge Black has repeatedly chastised the Urban Outfitters family for being slow with responses and for not providing enough information for the court or the tribe about the sale of the "Navajo" items. Get the Story:
Judge limits defense of clothing retailer in tribe's lawsuit (AP 6/2)
2 counts tossed in Navajos v. Urban Outfitters (AP 5/19)
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