Girl Scouts Sues Boy Scouts Over Trademark as Boys Welcome Girls

Girls from Cub Scout Den 13, a suburban Virginia Cub Scout unit made up of girls who are on their way to next year becoming the first female Scouts in the Boy Scouts of America as part of the the newly named "Scouts BSA" program, participate in a hike in this still image from video shot in McLean, Virginia, on May 20, 2018. Greg Savoy/File Photo/Reuters

NEW YORK–The Girl Scouts of the United States of America filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against the Boy Scouts of America on Nov. 6, after the Boy Scouts decided to drop “Boy” from its namesake program and start welcoming older girls.

The lawsuit in Manhattan federal court is an attempt by the Girl Scouts, founded in 1912, to avert an erosion of its brand and membership as the Boy Scouts, founded two years earlier, tries to reverse its own decades-long membership decline.