Coach Sues Gap for Selling T-Shirts With the Word 'COACH'

Luxury retailer Coach and its parent company are suing Gap Inc., alleging its Old Navy brand sold T-shirts with the word "COACH" printed on them in capital letters.

In a lawsuit filed April 3 in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, lawyers for Tapestry, Inc., which includes brands Coach, Kate Spade New York, and Stuart Weitzman, argued that Old Navy infringed upon the trademarked Coach logo and design and asked the court to stop Old Navy from manufacturing, designing, advertising, marketing, or selling any products that "bear the Coach trademarks."

Lawyers for Tapestry said the Coach-emblazoned T-shirts from Old Navy are "likely to create a false impression and deceive consumers, the public, and the trade into believing there's a connection or association between" Old Navy and Coach. Tapestry is also seeking monetary damages.

Total Retail's Take: The Fashion Law, which writes about legal and commercial challenges facing the retail industry, noted in an article that Gap's response will likely be that "its use of the word COACH on the shirts at issue is merely a decorative or ornamental feature of the clothing (potentially aimed at coaches), and not meant to act as an indicator of the source of the goods. In furtherance of this argument, counsel for the retail group will presumably contend that as a result of the size and placement of the word COACH on the garments at issue, consumers are likely to view it as a decorative feature of the goods, rather than as a trademark to indicate the source of the goods."