Levi's sues Vineyard Vines over back pocket tab

By

Cassidy Mantor

Published
Oct 4, 2017

Levi's has sued Connecticut-based Vineyard Vines for trademark infringement over the use of a pocket tab affixed on the back of Vineyard Vines jeans.

Levi Strauss & Co. filed the lawsuit in California federal court last week. In its complaint, Levi's alleges Vineyard Vines is selling “substantial quantities of jeans bearing pocket tab devices that are highly similar” to Levi's trademarked pocket tab design.

The product in question is a Vineyard Vines denim style that has a pocket tab with a Vineyard Vines whale logo affixed to the back right pocket. Levi's has held a registered trademark to use the pocket tab on jeans since 1938.

The Vineyard Vines tag is blue and has a whale on it while the Levi's registered tab is usually red and says Levi's. Regardless, Levi's claims consumers will be confused by a similar looking pocket tab on denim.

Levi's argues “Vineyard Vines’ actions have caused and will cause irreparable harm for which money damages and other remedies are inadequate."

In addition to traditional legal requests including lost profits and injunctive relief to stop selling the jeans, Levi's has also asked for Vineyard Vines to give the court a complete list of retailers and suppliers who have bought their denim with the pocket tab.

This is the second intellectual property case Levi's has filed in 4 months. In June, it sued a Chinese counterfeiter when US Customs seized 900 fake Levi's wallets.

Vineyard Vines has not removed the products in question from its website and has not yet responded to the lawsuit.