Rob Lammle
Update: The North Face v. The South Butt
by Rob Lammle - December 17, 2009 - 12:10 PM

Many of you commented last week on our story about David & Goliath trademark disputes, so I thought it might be a good idea to update you on the status of one of those stories: The North Face v. The South Butt.

Previously, The North Face had only threatened to sue The South Butt, but now it’s official. Last week, mere days after the story ran here, The North Face filed a trademark infringement suit against college student Jimmy Winkelmann and his parody clothing line. The North Face is claiming that The South Butt’s products and logo are too similar to their own, which could cause confusion among consumers.

But Winkelmann and his lawyer, Albert Watkins, are not going down without a fight. Here’s an interview with Watkins by St. Louis news source KMOV — Channel 4:

What do you think? Does Jimmy have a chance, or is it time to give up?

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Comments (20)

  1. This is so ridiculous…..how will the customer confuse the “north face” with the “south butt”? but of course this is just another large company trying to impose its will on the little guy. more than likely in this day in age, the kid will lose out. i wasnt a customer of north face, but this just gives me a reason to never buy their stuff anyways

    posted by Crow88 on 12-17-2009 at 12:59 pm

  2. The names are not confusing, but since he actually took their logo and inverted it to create his logo – he’s on a really slippery slope.

    posted by PartiallyDeflected on 12-17-2009 at 1:13 pm

  3. I dunno. The logo is similar enough, although the words are big enough to not confuse anyone. I see little difference between this case and that of counterfeiters who redesign logos for handbags and similar stuff that one sees for sale on urban streets and in stores (of course, counterfeits are often meant to confuse the buyer, and I know that’s not the case here). I don’t think there is much of a case in support of this young man. If people are thinking that this kid is inventive enough to build his own brand of clothing, then his inventiveness fails when he feels it’s okay to copy a established, recognized logo to the degree that he has.

    posted by Bubba on 12-17-2009 at 1:23 pm

  4. From what I understand, parody is protected no matter what the form. While this is clearly a case of a corp. trying to bring the little guy down, little guy has freedom of speech on his side.

    That being said, the kid’s slick lawyer is right, North Face just handed South Butt a huge Xmas present. What probably started as a local joke to make a little bit of money has now garnered national attention and, like the reporter said, will make the kid a ton of money. Why?…

    The added bonus of a soon to be viral video of news reporters, in all seriousness saying, “We did call The South Butt, they did not return our call.”

    I HATE it when my butt won’t answer.

    posted by Jeff M on 12-17-2009 at 1:27 pm

  5. I hope Winkelmann makes a million. In fact, though I have never previously made an online purchase, I now intend to help contribute to his success in my own small way.

    Trademark protection is one thing, but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t (or shouldn’t) extend to any combination of words that might conjure any possible suggestion or similarity to another company.Cause if it does, then I’m fairly sure the Kresge folks had adopted the “Mart” name before Sam Walton ever came along.

    posted by crybaby on 12-17-2009 at 1:27 pm

  6. This lawsuit makes me want to go buy some South Butt merch.

    Seriously, though, why would The North Face be so up in arms about this? He’s selling some shirts and sweatshirts…surely he’s not going to even come close to competing with them for sales. Give the kid a break.

    posted by Jen on 12-17-2009 at 1:29 pm

  7. His lawyer should trot out every store branded piece of merchandise like cough medicine that looks just like the “real” brands. That should set a nice example.

    recaptcha: Mutinies investigation–I didn’t know there was any reason to snoop into the private lives of Mutinies…

    posted by Wayne on 12-17-2009 at 1:46 pm

  8. He is making money off the work, name recognition, and success of North Face. He will lose and lose badly.

    posted by Brian on 12-17-2009 at 1:58 pm

  9. He admittedly copied their logo, albeit upsidedown, and typeface. From the garments shown, he also is copying their style. Everyone gets upset that people pirate music and buy knock offs from China,but this is ok? Im not a big corporate guy myself, but this is obvious infringement.

    posted by Chris on 12-17-2009 at 4:34 pm

  10. I hope he gets sued and loses all he has.
    There’s parody, and then there’s ripping off a name AND taking the logo to make money solely off that recognition. What a douche. If he were REALLY a good businessman, he’d be able to change the name and logo and continue to be successful. He won’t. It’s a novelty product riding the coattails of someone else’s ideas. Stupid, stupid child. Learn your copyright laws, kiddo.

    posted by mm on 12-17-2009 at 4:42 pm

  11. Yeah, them companies get the little guy down. I say help this kid. He’s making the world a funnier place.

    recaptcha – Vitamins do. Yep, they do.

    posted by SpitStorm on 12-17-2009 at 4:57 pm

  12. I said What What In The Butt.

    posted by Hurricanes on 12-17-2009 at 5:03 pm

  13. Who dat!?

    posted by Mary on 12-17-2009 at 7:52 pm

  14. Poor kid. True, he shouldn’t have gone to this extent of copying them… but I’m inclined to have sympathy for the little guy. Why does North Face care so much? Well, I hope he gets out of this mess.

    Keep us posted, please!

    posted by Tdl on 12-17-2009 at 8:06 pm

  15. What’s the bet it wasn’t originally North Face’s idea to sue? More likely it’s whatever law-firm they use has pushed this as a way to screw some more fees out of North Face…. Clever marketing could turn South Butt into a sales boost for North Face (and South Butt) but instead the lawyers get involved and will end up hurting both sides instead (except of course the lawyers!)

    posted by Professor on 12-17-2009 at 11:09 pm

  16. I hope he gets sued. You may not say it’s similiar but it is too close. Someone can easily confuse it by a glance and that is what’s going to get him. I hope he tanks because if he really wanted something like this, then he needed to come up with something more unique than mocking a big label company.

    posted by Eric on 12-21-2009 at 11:46 am

  17. I agree with mm and Eric. He is no “little guy” – he used another company’s logo and slogan to his own advantage, and made a LOT of money doing it. He knew exactly what he was doing, even though he ironically claimed he created his company to combat consumerism. Douche.

    posted by Logan on 12-25-2009 at 4:32 pm

  18. LMAO!!! I can definitely tell the difference between a butt and a North Face…although some are pretty close! Go find some other company to pick on before someone drops a house on you, too(hehehehe).

    posted by lieest on 1-10-2010 at 9:34 am

  19. Besides the fact that your product is a parody of TNF. There are many examples at your local dept store where a brand or logo is comparable to another (coach purses are just one example). If these products are not deemed brand infringement, how can TNF or the courts find fault with TSB.

    posted by NorthFace jacket on 1-10-2010 at 9:41 am

  20. South Africa’s Justin NURSE, owner of Laugh it Off, won a similar case:

    See: http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZACC/2005/7.html

    Jimmy must soldier on. He will win this bout of frivolous litigation. All strength to him.

    http://www.laughitoff.co.za

    posted by Snowman on 3-2-2010 at 5:22 pm

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