Southern Marsh Collection, a clothing retailer headquartered in Baton Rouge, is suing Alabama-based Comfort Cotton for trademark infringement.
This isn’t the first time Southern Marsh has sued over an issue of this sort. The Baton Rouge federal court docket shows 13 other cases dating back to 2014 against various companies alleging copyright or trademark infringement, some of which were dismissed and some of which were settled out of court. The retailer last filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Alabama-based Southern Proper in February.
According to documents filed with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana, Southern Marsh claims to own both common law and federal trademark rights to its “duck-style logo,” which it has used in commerce since 2008.
Southern Marsh is seeking injunctive relief prohibiting Comfort Cotton, also a clothing retailer, from using marks that are “identical or confusingly similar” to its duck logo.
Southern Marsh alleges that Comfort Cotton is selling products with logos that closely resemble its duck logo to a class of customers similar to its own—customers “interested in outdoor apparel”—and is thereby misleading customers to believe the products in question are affiliated with Southern Marsh.
“Because of these similarities, consumers are likely to be confused and believe that Comfort Cotton’s products are affiliated with, sponsored by, approved by, associated with or licensed by Southern Marsh when they are not,” an excerpt from Southern Marsh’s initial petition reads.
In addition to injunctive relief, Southern Marsh is also asking the court to order Comfort Cotton to turn over all profits derived from the alleged trademark infringement and to reimburse its legal costs.
Representatives from Comfort Cotton were unable to be reached for comment before this afternoon’s publication deadline.
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