Denver Public Schools drops patent application over "Know Justice, Know Peace" podcast name

Denver Public Schools has withdrawn its state and federal trademark patent application for a podcast. Earlier this year, CBS News Colorado reported that a group of current and former Denver Public Schools students were suing the district. 

The four Black women had filed the lawsuit, claiming that DPS unlawfully tried to trademark and steal the name of their racial justice podcast "Know Justice, Know Peace."  

Created after the killing of George Floyd in 2020, the podcast has garnered national attention and even led to curriculum change.  Alana Mitchell, Dahni Austin, Jenelle Nangah and Kaliah Yizar are all current or former students at Martin Luther King Jr. Early College.  

In the lawsuit filed in federal court, the four students alleged the district has no right to their name and brand. The district had argued this was all done with its equipment on its property.  

Now that DPS has withdrawn its patent application, the lawsuit has been dismissed. The rights to the name have been signed over to a former student involved in the creation of the podcast.