A federal judge has tossed out a lawsuit brought by environmental engineering and design professionals accusing the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council, which owns a widely recognized system of certifying buildings as environmentally friendly, of interfering with their business.
In Gifford v. U.S. Green Building Council, 1:10-cv-07747, Southern District Judge Leonard B. Sand said the plaintiffs—consultant Henry Gifford, architect Elisa Larkin and engineer Andrew Ask—did not have standing to bring suit under the Lanham Act and state law because they did not compete with the Building Council.
