From Charbucks to South Butt …
Recent Pitt grad and my former research assistant Dan Corbett is now a Pittsburgh trademark lawyer with his own blog – Pittsburgh Trademark Lawyer, and please send some traffic his way — and via Dan I learn that the North Face has gone ahead and sued the seller of “South Butt” clothing.
Has the defendant engaged in a silly and arguably parodic reworking of the mark of a company based in the Pacific Northwest that is a bit self-righteous? Check. Is the defendant selling products that compete with the plaintiffs’? Check. Does the defendant’s mark evoke the plaintiff’s mark – but stop short of being similar? Let alone substantially similar? I think so. Is the Second Circuit’s recent Charbucks opinion already having an impact on trademark owners’ willingness to pursue questionable dilution claims? Perhaps.