Levi Strauss & Co. v. Blue Bell, Inc.

Blue Bell, Inc. (Wrangler) appeals from a final judgment of the District Court for the Northern District of California in this suit for trademark infringement and unfair competition brought by Levi Strauss & Co. (Strauss). We affirm.

Background

In 1936, Chris Lucier, a Strauss employee, conceived the idea of a permanent identifier for pants, visible while the pants were being worn. The permanent identifier was a folded ribbon sewn with its ends captured in the seam of a rear patch pocket. For convenience, the identifier is here called the “pocket tab”.

Strauss adopted and used the pocket tab as a trademark in 1936. Over the ensuing 44 years, it has continuously and widely used the mark, most often in this form:

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Strauss has obtained and maintained six federal trademark registrations covering its pocket tab, and has an application pending for a seventh registration.

In 1969, Wrangler introduced its HONDO pants line, featuring an inset (as opposed to patch) back pocket. A horizontally disposed, projecting label sewn to the pocket at its top, carried “HONDO”. Strauss complained to Wrangler that use of that label infringed its trademark rights. Wrangler disagreed…