Just when clothing company The North Face thought the parody brand name “The South Butt” website was gone for good, along comes a new brand name from the same owner — a merchandise line called “The Butt Face.”
This all started back in 2009, when The North Face sued James A. Winkelmann, the owner of The South Butt, for trademark infringement. The North Face got a permanent injunction to stop the use of the parody name in April 2010. Apparently, two days later Winkelmann formed a new company, called Why Climb Mountains, LLC, that features a line of merchandise called … The Butt Face.
And now, The North Face has filed a motion for contempt against Winkelmann’s company in federal court. The company is seeking costs, sanctions for civil contempt and disgorgement for trademark violations.
Courthouse News Service reported that an attorney representing Winkelmann said in a statement: “The South Butt and Olop [South Butt's sister line] are genuinely committed to the fundamental concept that the consuming public is perfectly capable of discerning the difference between a direction point on a compass and that part of the body from which solid waste is evacuated.”
Why Climb Mountains filed a trademark registration for “The Butt Face” in August of last year. Take a look at the record from the Corsearch platform (click to enlarge):
If you visit the Why Climb Mountains website, you’ll not only see The Butt Face-branded merchandise, you might also notice another brand name featured on the site. This one’s called “Olop by Lalph Roren.”
What’s your favorite parody brand name?
