The North Face has decided to phase out and discontinue the use of its Futurelight logo following a trademark infringement lawsuit from Futura, the New York-based graffiti artist, over its design.
In a lawsuit filing in January, Futura alleged that The North Face used a logo that co-opted his “atom” design as a logo for its Futurelight line in 2019 and implied a connection to the graffiti artist and his brand.
Futura issued his first comments on Instagram on June 22 which drew more attention to the case.
The North Face said in a statement posted on its website, “The North Face, as well as VF Corporation and its family of brands, are home to, and partners of, many incredibly talented artists. We have great respect for artistic individuality, expression and intellectual property, and would never want an artist to feel otherwise. This includes the recent unfortunate situation involving Futura, an artist we hold in high esteem.
“Our Futurelight apparel technology launched October 1, 2019, and its logo was conceived and designed by our internal creative team to represent the nanospinning technology used to make Futurelight products. The logo was also inspired by the shape of the geodesic dome tent, which has been a key icon of The North Face brand for nearly 50 years. Any resemblance to Futura’s signature atomic element design was entirely coincidental and not part of our internal design team’s inspiration.
“While The North Face is confident there has been no infringement in this case, we are committed to supporting creative artists and their communities. As a sign of that commitment and a sincere gesture of goodwill, we will begin to phase out and discontinue the use of the Futurelight circular nanospinning logo design out of deep respect for Futura and his work.
“We have clarified the original intent behind our Futurelight logo with Futura and his legal representatives many times and worked to find amicable solutions to reconcile this matter outside of a court for nearly two years. Unfortunately, these conversations have not proven successful, but we remain hopeful that we can reach a place of mutual understanding and agreement.”
