The state of Louisiana on Friday filed a lawsuit against liberal group MoveOn.org over the organizations billboard and television ads that criticized Gov. Bobby Jindal (R).
The state argues that the group violated trademark rules by using the state’s motto and logo, according to the Times Picayune.
“We have invested millions of dollars in identifying the Louisiana: Pick Your Passion brand with all that is good about Louisiana. No group should be allowed to use the brand for its own purposes, especially if it is for partisan political posturing,” Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne (R) said in a statement.
“MoveOn.org has every right to attack Gov. Jindal, the state’s refusal to accept Medicaid or, for that matter, me personally. But they do not have the right to use our protected service mark, which is used solely for the purpose of promoting and marketing Louisiana. We own the mark and its use is under the direction of my office, not the Office of the Governor.”
Louisiana state officials and MoveOn.org have been locked in an ongoing battle since MoveOn commissioned the billboard criticizing the governor for not expanding Medicaid under Obamacare. Jindal tried to get the billboard taken down, prompting the liberal organization to put out a television ad slamming Jindal for trying to remove the billboard.
Jindal then wrote an op-ed charging that MoveOn.org discriminates against disabled people by supporting Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion.
Although the state of Louisiana has filed a lawsuit, MoveOn says that they will keep the billboard up.
“They’re trying to force us to take down a billboard that calls out Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal—an aspiring presidential candidate—for denying health care to 242,000 people,” a Sunday statement from the group reads. “After carefully discussing the matter with our lawyers, we’ve made a decision: We’re leaving our billboard up—even if we have to take this fight all the way to the Supreme Court.”
