rockin'robin
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The North Face unamused by spoof name
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.
"We embrace the litigation," said St. Louis attorney Al Watkins, who represents The South Butt.
This long-simmering dispute between the two companies first made a splash two months ago with an attorney for The North Face sending a letter to The South Butt demanding it stop selling its T-shirts, fleeces and shorts. The South Butt refused - and then used the letter to generate priceless publicity.
Sales spiked, according to Watkins. And Watkins now clearly hopes this lawsuit will only goose sales some more.
The South Butt was started in 2007 by Jimmy Winkelmann, now 18 and attending the University of Missouri Columbia. He said he saw it as a way to spoof a status symbol crowding the hallways of his school, Chaminade College Prep.
The clothing can be purchased online and in Ladue.
Jimmy Winkelmann lets others run the clothing line while he is at college.
The 84-page lawsuit notes that, "Unfortunately, and inevitably, The North Face's success attracts opportunists seeking to pirate its famous trademarks for their inferior knockoffs."
The South Butt faces federal trademark suit
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.
"We embrace the litigation," said St. Louis attorney Al Watkins, who represents The South Butt.
This long-simmering dispute between the two companies first made a splash two months ago with an attorney for The North Face sending a letter to The South Butt demanding it stop selling its T-shirts, fleeces and shorts. The South Butt refused - and then used the letter to generate priceless publicity.
Sales spiked, according to Watkins. And Watkins now clearly hopes this lawsuit will only goose sales some more.
The South Butt was started in 2007 by Jimmy Winkelmann, now 18 and attending the University of Missouri Columbia. He said he saw it as a way to spoof a status symbol crowding the hallways of his school, Chaminade College Prep.
The clothing can be purchased online and in Ladue.
Jimmy Winkelmann lets others run the clothing line while he is at college.
The 84-page lawsuit notes that, "Unfortunately, and inevitably, The North Face's success attracts opportunists seeking to pirate its famous trademarks for their inferior knockoffs."
The South Butt faces federal trademark suit
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All I know is I now want the shirt although I never knew about it before!
