Southern Marsh Collection, a clothing retailer headquartered in Baton Rouge, is suing Alabama-based Southern Proper for trademark infringement.
According to documents filed with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana, Southern Marsh claims to own a set of trademarks comprising “The Original Southern Clothier,” “Original Southern Outfitter” and “The Original Southern Outfitter”—collectively, the “Original Southern marks.”
Southern Marsh is seeking injunctive relief prohibiting Southern Proper, also a clothing retailer, from using marks that are “identical or confusingly similar” to the Original Southern marks.
Southern Marsh alleges that Southern Proper is using marks that closely resemble the Original Southern marks “in a manner that is likely to cause consumer confusion.” Some Southern Proper products display marks like “The Original Southern Company” and “The Original Southern Apparel Company.”
“Because of these similarities, consumers are likely to be confused and believe that Southern Proper’s products are affiliated with, sponsored by, approved by, associated with or licensed by Southern Marsh,” an excerpt from Southern Marsh’s initial petition, filed Feb. 28, reads.
This isn’t the first time Southern Marsh has sued over an issue of this sort. The Baton Rouge federal court docket shows 11 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.
In addition to injunctive relief, Southern Marsh is seeking monetary damages of up to $74,000 due in part to alleged harm to the company’s brand, goodwill and reputation caused by “Southern Proper’s unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts and practices.”
Representatives from Southern Marsh and Southern Proper were unable to be reached for comment before this afternoon’s publication deadline.
