The settlement ends a lawsuit against the Girl Scouts that the Boy Scouts had called a “land war” to block their entry into Girl Scouting. The Boy Scouts organization won the trademark dispute in April, when a federal court in New York ruled that the Boy Scouts’ use of the word Scouting did not infringe the Girl Scouts trademarks.
The Girl Scouts agreed to drop their appeal of the April decision as part of the settlement, and both sides agreed to drop trademark proceedings in other courts and before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. They also agreed to cooperate on terms of trade for Scouting’s brands in the future, according to the court filing.
The settlement did not include any payment from either party.
The Boy Scouts announced in 2017 that they would allow girls to join and later launched an advertising campaign for co-ed Scouting called “Scout Me In”. It changed the name of its main Scouting program to “BSA Scouts” and officially started welcoming girls in 2019.
Girl Scouts filed a lawsuit in 2018 claiming that Boy Scouts’ use of the terms “Scouts” and “Scouting” to market to girls violated its trademarks. She said the rebranding would create confusion and threaten to marginalize the group.
Both organizations have lost many members in recent years, and the Boy Scouts are trying to finalize a proposed $2.7 billion settlement regarding thousands of sexual abuse claims in bankruptcy court. The Boy Scouts’ proposed reorganization has been awaiting a judge’s decision since the conclusion of a month-long trial on April 14.