Patagonia Goes After Gap For Allegedly Mimicking Its Logo & Pockets
It’s not looking too rosy over at Gap, with the retailer embroiled in a new lawsuit while it recovers from the public fallout over its collaboration with Kanye West.
Recently, outdoor apparel brand Patagonia filed a lawsuit against the American label, alleging it had copied its iconic Snap-T pocket design, which has featured on its popular fleece sweaters for over three decades.
According to Reuters, Patagonia filed a complaint with the San Francisco federal court last week, claiming that Gap had “willfully and deliberately” started selling similar-looking jackets that plagiarized its flap pockets and rectangular ‘P-6’ logo with mountains in the backdrop.
The Snap-T pullover fleece was first released by the company way back in 1985, with its designers adding the recognizable flap pocket four years later.
The brand felt that, by mimicking its signature details, Gap’s actions had “undermined its goodwill” and could possibly be intended to confuse shoppers into believing the jackets were made by Patagonia or was a collaboration of some sort.
Interestingly, this isn’t the first time Patagonia has taken issue with Gap for copying its designs. In fact, the label reveals it had previously warned the firm, which could mean that the alleged “adoption of designs and logos bearing even more similarity cannot have occurred by accident.”
As Hypebeast points out, Patagonia’s Snap-T pullover has been such a mainstay of popular culture that it was previously exhibited at New York’s Museum of Modern Art and London’s Victoria & Albert Museum.
Take a look at the similarities between Patagonia and Gap’s jackets below.
Patagonia is suing the Gap for trademark infringement over these maybe-the-logo-was-a-step-too-far fleeces. Patagonia v. The Gap, No. 22 cv 7437 (NDCA Nov. 22, 2022) pic.twitter.com/egXu6lFKbR
— Casey Hewitt (@cahwit) November 23, 2022
[via Hypebeast and Reuters, cover image via Ricochet69 | Dreamstime.com and Roman Tiraspolsky | Dreamstime.com]
