The South Butt faces legal complaints

The North Face disapproves of the company's satirical brand name.

By Rachel Allred

Published Oct. 6, 2009

The South Butt, a clothing line spin-off of The North Face clothing company, is facing legal controversy.

Freshman Jimmy Winkelmann started the company two years ago after being annoyed by the popularity of The North Face brand.

"In St. Louis, lots of high school and grade school kids were wearing them," Winkelmann said. "No one was climbing a mountain in their North Face jackets. They just wanted to be cool."

Winkelmann began to jokingly refer to North Face as South Butt. His friends encouraged him to turn the name into a company.

"I thought it was stupid," Winkelmann said. "I started making fun of it and with the help of my dad we started a Web site and convinced a store to sell the clothes."

Winkelmann said his godfather owns a company that places logos on merchandise and he placed South Butt logos on T-shirts, fleece jackets and other apparel items.

The apparel brought in about $5,000 annually, but North Face is demanding the small company cease production of all South Butt related products. Winkelmann said North Face sent him a letter informing him of their disapproval.

"I went to the mailbox one day and there was a letter from North Face saying that I was infringing on copyright," Winkelmann said. "They insisted I shut down the Web site and pretty much stop everything."

"The North Face is all for creativity, 'butt' we opposed Jimmy Winkelmann's logo in order to protect our famous trademark," Marketing Vice President Aaron Carpenter said in a statement released by North Face. "We respect genuine, entrepreneurial spirit; we are built on it. However, it's also important to maintain integrity and strong ethics in any business endeavor, such as the creation of a unique logo and brand identity."

In early September, attorney Albert Watkins began offering Winkelmann legal advice. Watkins is a friend of Winkelmann's father. Watkins evaluated the situation and thought he had a good case.

"The evaluation was conducted in short order," Watkins said. "We found with alarming clarity that North Face was blowing sunshine up Jimmy Winkelmann's shirt."

Watkins said North Face is concerned South Butt will cause consumer confusion, and he informed them that is an invalid concern.

"I made it as clear as humanly possible to them that there is no risk of consumer confusion," Watkins said. "No intelligent human being doesn't know the difference between a face and a butt."

Watkins said North Face is bullying Winkelmann, and he wants to help protect his basic human rights.

"There are grand tenents in America that we can't allow to be compromised," Watkins said. "One of them is for every man, woman and child to pursue the American dream free from the encumbers of corporations who fear competition at every turn."

North Face is in the process of transferring the case to a different law firm and is threatening litigation. Watkins said this is not a wise move for the company.

"I remain hopeful that North Face will realize that threatening litigation to an 18-year-old is probably not going to get them where they want to go," Watkins said.