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shadowbea... shadowbea...
 
M$4 October 23, 2009 06:32 AM

Who do you think will win in a court case and why? North Face or South Butt?

Personally i think Jimmy Winkelmann is going make millions off this and its due mostly to North Face bringing him the attention. Butt does North Face have a legitimite case.
Has little jimmy changed his words and logo around enough to get away with it?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAHU7_ihd04
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Interesting: jeffhoard M$3.00

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achieve75 achieve75
 
 October 23, 2009 03:03 PM
Wow. That's a tough one. Of course most people are pulling for the underdog (South Butt), but the logos are extremely similar.

In cases like these, both companies will benefit from the added publicity. I wouldn't be surprised if North Face instigated the action to gain some free publicity/advertising for their products. Negative attention is still attention in the advertising world.

My guess is there will be an out of court settlement with The South Butt changing their logo to be more distinctive. (Perhaps changing the background color, or only having one downward swoosh).
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Tags: face, north, south, butt

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shadowbear shadowbear
 
October 23, 2009 04:42 PM
I think you've hit it on the head, what North Face did by making this an issue was to boost their own product at a very small cost to the company. In the process they pull The South Butt along with them though and Jimmy goes from a one trick pony campus show to a worldwide company overnight. I don't think North Face has any intention of pursuing this into the red ink. They know that in the end South Butt might sell alot of T-shirts and hats but when it comes to primary money making lines theres no way that South Butt can compete quality wise and maintain the low retail price.
I love North Face products and its because of thier superior quality, but I did order some South Butt T-shirts for xmas gifts, I just hope the kid can catch up with his backorders before then. :-)
You have to admit it was a slick move to create South Butt and the kid is going to make a tidy chunk of change, sure wish I had thought of it.

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aaeeiioouu... aaeeiioouu...
 
October 23, 2009 10:37 AM
South Butt should win because their name and logos are obviously parodies, not an attempt to deceive consumers.

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albanian albanian
 
October 23, 2009 02:15 PM
He changed the words enough but the Logo looks awful similar. Corporations are very protective of their logos etc., they have to be or they lose them to the public domain. I don't think South Butt can claim to be a parody easily because they appear to be regular clothes of the same general sort. The law tends to be extra strict when you try to compete in the same business category.

I suspect that the North Face folks will feel that the letter was enough and they won't actually go to court unless South Butt continues and thrives for a fair while. But they may, and if they do the similarity in the logo design and the product will probably be enough for them to win and force a logo change.

They may settle, as Moosehead did after harrassing Moose Drool beer, with an agreement about how much the parties can do.
Source(s):
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-77713626.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trademark


Tags: clothes, beer, butt, trademark, face

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