The South Butt LLC, a company based on parodying The North Face, filed a response to TNF's patent infringement lawsuit. TNF is seeking a court order mandating that South Butt cease operations while the case is pending.
In South Butt’s official response, South Butt founder Jimmy Winkelmann, 19, is described by lawyers as a “cherubic teenager, budding entrepreneur and college freshman from the heartland of America studying biomedical engineering” at the University of Missouri.”
The response, filed in U.S. District Court in St. Louis, continues: “But for the actions of North Face, the South Butt saga might have been relegated to local Friday fish-fry banter. Unfortunately, and regrettably, South Butt’s youthful exuberant and obvious parody has not been embraced by North Face
Jimmy and The South Butt have no choice but to defend the present action to protect the integrity of the marketplace, freedom of choice for the consumer, freedom of speech for all, and the fundamental tenets of capitalism, competition and the American Way.”
The North Face's lawsuit filed in mid-December claims that besides making money on the reputation of The North Face name, South Butt's products are confusing the buying public. Its lawyers wrote, “Unfortunately, and inevitably, The North Face's success attracts opportunists seeking to pirate its famous trademarks for their inferior knockoffs … While defendants may try to legitimize their piracy under the banner of parody, their own conduct belies that claim.”
