The North Face files lawsuit against parody

[MintakaCat]

The North Face files lawsuit against parody

The Associated Press

ST. LOUIS — The North Face Apparel Corp. is suing a small suburban St. Louis-area company called The South Butt and the teenager who started it.

The lawsuit filed last week in federal court in St. Louis seeks unspecified damages and asks the court to prohibit The South Butt from marketing and selling its parody product line.

The North Face says it does not comment on pending litigation.

The South Butt's attorney, Albert Watkins, says the company was started by 18-year-old Jimmy Winkelmann to help pay for college. It puts out products with the tag line "Never Stop Relaxing," a parody of The North Face line, "Never Stop Exploring."

The parody company sells T-shirts, fleece jackets and sweatshirts on its Web site.
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On the Net:
The South Butt: http://www.thesouthbutt.com
The North Face: http://www.thenorthface.com

[Franco]

Funny that, considering that TNF is the most copied brand (in Kathmandu I even found a shop that sold TNF labels, many sizes available, large quantities. However could not find a genuine TNF item)
So rather than pursuing the makers of those cheap copies they want to shut down a guy with a sense of humour..
Franco

[Two Tents]

It's a parody for crying out loud! Nobody is going to be bummed out when 'they suddenly,after spending good money, realizes that they mistakenly have been duped and bought a fake'. Man, no wonder why the rest of the world hates the U.S.

[Connie]

The first North Face product I purchased, I immediately thought where is that label... ?

and, the North Face ..of what?

[Franco]

the North Face ..of what?
Good question..
Most think that it had to do with the North Face of the Eiger (that is the tough side) however it was about a generic North Face of a mountain since in the Northern Hemisphere that is the weather side.
Franco
From the Franco useless info archives

[Two Tents]

Life is good. They had a parody done of them and didn't whine-- Life is crap.

[timebreaks]

the North Face ..of what?

The logo is based on Half Dome, IIRC.

[gunner76]

I must admint that the North Face did not come to mind when I first looked at their product logo and I have been using/owned North Face since the 70's. I think I know what my wife is getting for XMas.

[Feral Bill]

Nice of TNF to give this fellow the publicity. Probably increase sales dramatically.

[Franco]

My view too. Still we should buy up his stock, they could be collectors items soon .
(collectors item :stuff you flog on E Bay)
Franco
BTW, this was on The Goat/Backcountry .com some time ago
http://thegoat.backcountry.com/2009/10/02/the-north-face-vs-the-south-butt/

[sasquatch2014]

This is another case of a large corporation pressing a nuisance suit to try and kill any possible competition out there. They will just use the small stable of lawyers they have on staff to burry the kid in court and suck him dry if he tries to fight this the old way.

The same thing happened to a small brewery up in VT vs the Monster Energy drink company but he decided enough of the old way of doing stuff and fought them through the web they have pulled their lawsuit the last that I heard. This guy should put it out to the web as well and put the pressure on NF to back the hell of and try and make better more useful products to gain back market share rather than kill competition.

For the thing on the brewery check this out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbG_woqXTeg

[white_russian]

They will just use the small stable of lawyers they have on staff to bury the kid in court and suck him dry if he tries to fight this the old way.

He has got a family friend representing him for cheap. From The Goat article

Winkelmann’s attorney Albert Watkins, who plays squash with his client’s father and traded his services for a really good bottle of burgundy, responded to LaVine with a Sept. 10 letter in which he not only declined the company’s request but told it that The South Butt should be considered flattery.

[bulldog49]

It's a parody for crying out loud! Nobody is going to be bummed out when 'they suddenly,after spending good money, realizes that they mistakenly have been duped and bought a fake'. Man, no wonder why the rest of the world hates the U.S.

"First, we kill all the lawyers." William Shakespeare

[Two Speed]

TNF does appear to be humor impaired.

[nox]

if someone took nike's logo and flipped it upside down and started selling almost identical products they too would absolutely take them to court. It might be a parody but it's a parody for profit not for entertainment. I think thats where the problem is.

[Two Tents]

if someone took nike's logo and flipped it upside down and started selling almost identical products they too would absolutely take them to court. It might be a parody but it's a parody for profit not for entertainment. I think thats where the problem is.

I agree somewhat with you on that. But its not an exact upsidedown logo. I don't think TNF really has a chance in front of the lady with the blind fold and the scales on this one.

[MintakaCat]

I don't think TNF really has a chance in front of the lady with the blind fold and the scales on this one.

There was a case here in Atlanta many years ago where a restaurant had a sign that looked like an upsidedown version of McDonald's golden arches. McDonalds won that case.

[Dr O]

if someone took nike's logo and flipped it upside down and started selling almost identical products they too would absolutely take them to court. It might be a parody but it's a parody for profit not for entertainment. I think thats where the problem is.

Profit is irrelevant. Trademark protections exist to protect the consumer, not the producer. TNF will have a hard time proving that "the south butt" is fooling people into thinking they are buying 'the north face" merchandise.

A flipped logo is still the same logo.

[Two Speed]

There was a case here in Atlanta many years ago where a restaurant had a sign that looked like an upsidedown version of McDonald's golden arches. McDonalds won that case.

Oh yeah, Wency's. How anyone could confuse that joint for a McDonald's is beyond me. Used car lot now. Lots better as a cheap nasty Chinese joint IMHO.

[Two Tents]

I'm just sayin it is not the same. TNF has three elements to its logo. TSB has two. I don't see how you can have a shape or line or curve in a logo then expect not never, not no how, that anybody else can use you curve or partial symbol in any form. A check type mark is not off limits, but an identical Nike check would be. I'm sure there are violations of a circle or some other geometric shape but I don't see how any can have a monopoly on an abstract form. I guess what I'm trying to say is the logo, in question, is the same thing only different so I don't see the problem.