The Libertarian Party of New Mexico states it will temporarily operate under a new name following the recent federal court order barring it from using the “Libertarian Party” name while a trademark lawsuit by the Libertarian National Committee continues.
In a social media post on Monday, the New Mexico political party said it expects the court order to go into effect soon and will change its name to “just LPNM” for the time being in response.
“As such, we will be forced to rename, hopefully temporarily, as just LPNM, no acronym, just the letters,” the group wrote. It added that the name could still change upon further legal advice.
The name change follows a June 17 order granting the LNC’s request for a preliminary injunction. The order barred the New Mexico group and several named defendants, most of whom are identified by the state party as current officers, from using the registered Libertarian Party mark, including the name “Libertarian Party of New Mexico,” while the lawsuit continues.
The legal battle ties back to the New Mexico party’s 2022 split from the LNC following disagreements over the validity of a state convention held by the New Mexico group. The LNC later recognized the Free New Mexico Party as its state affiliate, while the former affiliate, now associated with Liberal Party USA, continued operating under the Libertarian Party of New Mexico name.
In its post, the party also expressed frustration about the cost of the litigation, saying recent events had “zeroed out” any chance it had of placing a statewide candidate on the ballot this cycle. It further accused both the LNC and the court of disregarding the impact the case could have on ballot access.
The New Mexico Secretary of State currently recognizes LPNM as a qualified minor party. To field a statewide candidate, regardless of position, the party would have needed to file the required paperwork with the state by the June 25 deadline and submit nominating petitions equal to at least 1 percent of the votes cast for governor in the last gubernatorial election. Based on official 2022 election totals, that would amount to about 7,123 signatures.
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