Duluth Trading Co. suing J.C. Penney over longtail T’s
Duluth Trading Co. is suing J.C. Penney for describing its product as a “longtail” T-shirt, which the Mount Horeb-based retailer says violates its copyright.
Duluth Trading is suing the department store chain for trademark infringement and unfair competition. Duluth Holdings Inc. filed the lawsuit against Penney OpCo LLC and JLB Marketing Inc. in Western District of Wisconsin U.S. District Court on Tuesday.
Duluth Trading uses the “Longtail T” name to describe its shirts with a longer body than typical sizing. The company says more length in the shirt body is a “cure for embarrassing Plumber’s Butt.”
Duluth Holdings included an email that its lawyers sent to J.C. Penney more than a decade ago about the company’s rights to use “longtail T” to describe shirts.
Duluth Trading demanded that J.C. Penney “immediately cease and desist further use of the LONGTAIL T trademark, or any confusingly similar variations thereof, in connection with J.C. Penney’s products” in the letter.
The counsel for Duluth Holdings wrote in the email from November 2011 that “it has recently come to our attention of our client” that J.C. Penney “appears to be selling a similar product under a nearly identical mark.”
The email includes pages from both retailer websites showing the similar products for sale. Duluth Trading has a “longtail T” while J.C. Penney was selling a “long tail tee.”
“J.C. Penney’s use of Duluth Trading’s LONGTAIL T trademark on a similar product is highly likely to cause confusion or mistake and to deceive the public, which has come to associate the LONGTAIL T mark with our client,” the 2011 letter said.
As of Tuesday, J.C. Penney has Smith Workwear shirts for sale on its website described as long tail tees.
Penney OpCo LLC and JLB Marketing Inc.have 21 days to respond.