On February 3, 2025, a Washington D.C. court awarded the trademarked name, the Proud Boys, to Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in partial satisfaction of the $2.8 million judgment against them.

Metropolitan AME Church, represented by Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and pro bono counsel Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, sued the Proud Boys and other defendants after an attack on the Church in 2020. The court then issued a default judgment against the Proud Boys. In order to enforce this judgment, Metropolitan AME sought the transfer of the Proud Boys trademark.

The victory was covered widely by national media:

CNN: https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/04/politics/proud-boys-dc-black-church/

CBS: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/proud-boys-trademark-court-ruling-metropolitan-ame-black-church/

NYT: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/03/us/politics/proud-boys.html

WP: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/02/04/dc-black-church-proud-boys-name-trademark-rights/

AP: https://apnews.com/article/proud-boys-trademark-church-jan-6-enrique-tarrio-de927b297eaf45df048771a5d52199eb

Newsweek: https://www.newsweek.com/proud-boys-black-church-washington-dc-lawsuit-black-lives-matter-sign-trademark-name-2026411

For more information: https://www.washlaw.org/judge-awards-proud-boys-trademark-to-metropolitan-ame-church/