Angel Flight of Georgia wins "superior right" to the use of its name

Client(s) Angel Flight of Georgia, Inc.

Attorneys from Jones Day's Atlanta Office successfully represented Angel Flight of Georgia, Inc. ("AFGA"), before the Eleventh Circuit in the appeal of a 2006 victory in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. The ruling below was affirmed on all counts in two separate appeals.

AFGA is a nonprofit, volunteer pilot organization dedicated to removing the obstacle of transportation for individuals in medical and financial need. During the weeks following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, AFGA, as a first responder, flew more than 450 relief missions to the Gulf Coast, carrying supplies to the region and evacuating people from stricken areas. AFGA was also instrumental in the 9/11 relief efforts, transporting disaster-relief workers, firefighters, medical health workers, Red Cross personnel, and FBI agents to New York and Washington, D.C., when all commercial air traffic was grounded.

The lawsuit sought to protect AFGA's right to the name "Angel Flight" against two other organizations, Angel Flight of America and Angel Flight Southeast, that attempted to license and use similar and confusing names in AFGA's service territory. The district court found for AFGA on all counts and ruled that AFGA had a superior right to the name.

Angel Flight of Georgia, Inc. v. Angel Flight Southeast, Inc., No. 1-03-CV-3620, U.S. District Ct., N.D. Georgia