Posted on 12/18/2009 2:46:21 PM PST by SFmom
The North Face has made good on its threat to sue The South Butt.
The international apparel maker filed a federal lawsuit in St. Louis late last week alleging trademark infringement by The South Butt, a Ladue, Mo.-based company started by a teenager making fun of The North Face name.
For now, The South Butt isn't backing down.
What infringment? Logo? North is north and sout is south ... There was a similar suit here in Seattle between King Tv and Kong TV ... King said it’d confuse people ... yeah, Libs being confused .... yep, that’s it ....
My G-d, these lawyers have zero sense of humor...
The owner of South Butt has parodied North Face. It flipped the logo. It has parodied the motto: “Never stop relaxing” and it has challenged North Face to prove that people don’t know the difference between a face and a butt on Facebook! Hilarious. Here’s South Butt’s site:
i heard this on Rush’s ahow today. The South Butt got a lot of free advertising!
North Space or Northface would be trademark infringement.
A clearly distinguished parody is not.
North Space will try to buy a settlement. This is the kind of parody that kills a product. I am putting my money on South Butt to win, or to take a handsome settlement offer to cease and desist, and pay for college.
Too funny - went to browse their store ... I’m buying something ... I hate elitists like NF ...
If NF had even ¼ if a brain, they’d buy him out, and keep the brand going...
Saks Fifth Avenue (SFA) sued them to keep their corporate image secure.
The local ‘Sacks’ settled, out of court.
SFA gave our local charity $50,000 for the non-profit to change it's name to Sacks of Bozeman.
And liberals say corporations are ‘greedy.’ I guess they are if they are run by liberals...
Suffice to say, The North Face is not a pleasant corporation. I think of them in the same way (ilk, if you wish) as I do of Patagonia. Leftist, liberal goons. More power to The South Butt!
I enjoy these stories from time to time but especially around Christmas when it reveals that VF Industries not only own the North Face brand but are also responsible for Wrangler and Lee Jeans. When you consider the cynical sourcing and marketing it does make you wonder if that North Face jacket is worth the price.
“Drop the towel and nobody gets hurt!”
I didn’t think about that angle. But I agree with you.
They might not have a case regarding the name, but the logo overall is a clear infringement.
There may be room for parody in copyright law, but not in trademark law.
Think up your own company name, and design your own logo, kid.
Give ‘um a face full of Gerty Boyle, from Columbia...
Many moons ago I started my own company and went into competition with the people who had been my employers a few months earlier. I picked a name for my company that used my surname and one five letter prefix from one of their company’s products. They sent me a letter advising me that I should change the name of my company to avoid problems as my name was clearly in conflict with theirs. I incorporated the company and added INC. to the name. I never heard from them again. They were just trying to intimidate me.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.