Patagonia and Gap have settled a lawsuit over the design and marketing of a pullover fleece.
The lawsuit had accused Gap of trademark infringement over copying Patagonia’s Snap-T fleece design and mountain logo. Patagonia filed suit in November in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco. In its lawsuit, Patagonia said Gap’s pullover fleece used designs and logos that deliberately imitated Patagonia’s products.
U.S. District Court Judge Trina L. Thompson approved the settlement on Tuesday. Terms were not disclosed.
Gap’s actions were “likely to cause confusion among consumers about the source of the products or whether they are the result of a sponsorship by or collaboration with Patagonia,” the outdoor retailer had claimed in court documents. The companies were not collaborating. Patagonia also included in its court filings a one-star online review from a Gap customer who said they “had to zoom in just to ensure that the logo was Gap.”
Patagonia said it had previously warned Gap to stop copying its designs and trademarks. Patagonia also said in court documents that Gap began using its logo and fleece design long after Patagonia first introduced it in 1985, a move that was a “willful and deliberate” decision.
Specifically, Patagonia alleged various violations of both federal and California trademark and unfair competition laws. Gap, in turn, filed a counterclaim, asking a judge to find that Patagonia’s Snap-T pullover fleece design was not legally protected. Patagonia had sought a jury trial, a court injunction ordering Gap to stop selling the items in question and monetary damages.
Gap and Patagonia did not immediately respond to Retail Dive’s request for comment on Friday.
As that lawsuit ended, Patagonia initiated a new one against another retailer. Patagonia sued Nordstrom this week in federal court in Los Angeles, accusing the department store of selling counterfeit Patagonia apparel through its Rack stores.
