Levi’s Turns to Suing Its Rivals

By Michael Barbaro and Julie Creswell

Levi Strauss once known as the king of Denim has now taken a new crown. Upon filing more then 100 lawsuits for trademark infringements against its competitors since 2001, it has become the most litigious company in the apparel industry. According to Levi's the lawsuits are about protecting its defining features on its jeans, not about the money. One suit settled for a mere $5,000. Nearly all of the cases have settles out of court ending with the rival companies destroying unsold pairs of the offending pant and taking them off the market.
Competitors are lashing out saying the lawsuits are a result of a poor company which missed many key market opportunities in the denim industry. While premium denim sales were on the rise Levi's were still selling jeans to Kmart for $30. Not until last year did it release their own line of premium denim called Capital E.
I think Levi's has every right to protect their back pocket stitching. It is very important for a brand to develop their own logo tabs and stitching because it is how different jeans are distinguished. Levi's had sued Wrangler previously in the 1970's, when business was booming, which proves they want to preserve their intellectual property regardless of the company's economic status. If they ignored counterfeit products their brand would suffer. Although the differences in stitching are blatently obvious for the companies, it is definatly harder for their consumers to tell the differences. Customers might not recognizethe different brands and would in turn get frustrated with the Levi's. I completely agree with Levi's for suing even higher end brands for trademark infringements because it can ulitmately ruin their brand.

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By Alexandra Verni