In a lengthy (43 page) precedential decision that offers an interesting history of the Sioux Nation and an overview of the current cultural, business, tourism, and healing focus of one of its western tribes, the Board upheld the PTO’s refusal to register a third party’s mark LAKOTA for medicinal herbal remedies for falsely suggesting a connection with the Native American Lakota tribe under Section 2(a) of the Trademark Act.
