The South Butt

Yes, If you haven't already heard of this company, you read it right. Unlike the North Face, where people are encouraged to "Never Stop Exploring", The South Butt's founding principle is to "Never Stop Relaxing." And although the company is quite clear about not expecting anyone who is wearing the gear to actually go climb a mountain, its no surprise, The South Butt now finds itself being sued by The North Face, who is seeking to stop the St Louis based company from marketing and selling its parody apparel product line. Now, trademark infringement suits are not uncommon- company x has a strong brand mark that people recognize and respect ( and company x spends a ton of money to make this happen of course) and company y comes in with a slightly different mark or product and hope they are different enough that they can play in the same space without causing harm to company x. These cases seem to end up coming down to this difference between the 1)likelihood of dilution over actually 2)proving injury to the value of a mark. To help prove that the average person knows the difference between a face and a butt, TSB launched what else but a facebook app. How 2010 of them. Of course, there are those who believe this college student in Missouri should be allowed to "follow the American dream" and others, most likely those working in the business of brands, believe he should have simply came up with a different name. Whatever side you're on, the case is moving forward so the jury is still out. Literally.