A&F Sues Wet Seal Over Moose and Fish
Abercrombie & Fitch Co. filed a trademark-infringement lawsuit against California teen retailer The Wet Seal Inc. for using moose and fish designs on some of its clothing.
The lawsuit, filed Jan. 4 in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, maintains that Wet Seal used “confusingly similar” variations of moose and fish shapes on some of its sweaters, jeans and pants pockets.
Abercrombie, based in New Albany, Ohio, said it had the designs trademarked and that the shapes resulted in more than $400 million in sales for Wet Seal, based in Foothill Ranch, Calif.
Wet Seal sells branded and private-label apparel to teens at its 400 stores, which are heavily concentrated in Florida, Texas and California. In recent years, Wet Seal has been trying to turn its business around. In fiscal 2005, it had a net loss of $191 million on $435 million in revenues. In fiscal 2004, the company’s net loss was $39 million on $517 million in revenues.
Abercrombie & Fitch, which operates 790 stores in the United States, has been extremely profitable, with net earnings in fiscal 2005 totaling $216 million on $2 billion in revenues. —Deborah Belgum
