The makers of Coach handbags are calling game over in their trademark lawsuit over a simply stated, sporty T-shirt at Old Navy that read “COACH,” one in which the luxury designer claimed in a lawsuit filed last month could lead to brand confusion.
As reported by the Fashion Law Blog, Coach IP Holdings LLC, Coach Services Inc. and Tapestry Inc. (collectively, “Coach”) claimed that Gap, Inc., which owns the Old Navy brand, was violating federal trademark law with the “design, manufacture, importation, distribution, advertisement, marketing, offering for sale, and sale of products” that make use of Coach’s well-known name.
In a filing on May 14, the plaintiffs alerted a federal court in California that they are dismissing the case without prejudice, as reported by the blog, which called foul just after the lawsuit was filed in April:
“We reported at the time that Coach might be in for an uphill battle in its fight against Gap, Inc. due, in part, to the placement of the word COACH on the T-shirt, which appears – at first glance, at least – to be a merely decorative or ornamental feature of the clothing (potentially aimed at coaches), and thus, not meant to act as an indicator of the source of the goods. In other words, the use of the word COACH on the Old Navy shirts does not appear to be aimed at passing off the shirts as Coach products.”
