140
C
ASE: 18
You Be the Judge!
You Be the Judge!
Sources
The case brie ng above contains
excerpts and direct extractions
from the sources noted below
that have been combined
with the author's own expert
legal input. The case has been
condensed and formatted from its
original content for purposes of
this workbook.
Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc.
v. American Eagle Out tters, Inc.,
280 F.3d 619 (6th Cir. 2002).
United States Court of Appeals,
Sixth Circuit
February 15, 2002. Opinion
written by the Honorable Justice
Danny Julian Boggs.
Revenue for American
Eagle Outfi tters in 2009
was $2,990,000,000.
similar to e Quarterly.
To support its contention, Abercrombie & Fitch introduced
evidence of an American Eagle directive to its marketing executives
that stated: "Attention store managers - we need you to tell us what
Abercrombie & Fitch is marketing!!!" American Eagle managers were
instructed to inspect the windows, lead table, and signs in Abercrom-
bie & Fitch stores every week and report on Abercrombie & Fitch's
presentation.
When comparing e Quarterly with American Eagle's catalogs
of the same year, the following facts were revealed:
1) FORMAT: Like Abercrombie & Fitch, American Eagle used
the clothesline (or cutout) format to display its goods--the
garments appeared on the page as if hanging from a clothes-
line, not on a model.
2) DISPLAY: American Eagle used colorbars and design bars un-
derneath almost all its garments, while Abercrombie & Fitch
did so only occasionally.
3) PHOTOGRAPHS: roughout e Quarterly, Abercrombie
& Fitch made extensive use of grainy photographs depicting
apparently in-shape college-aged models in o en romantic
poses. American Eagle's photographs were clear and presented
a "wholesome image," with models of various ages in non-
suggestive, o en family-oriented situations.
4) ARTICLE CONTENT: American Eagle concentrated on fam-
ily subjects with slogans such as "A er all the gi s are opened
and the decorations packed away, there is really one thing that
lasts through the holidays--the spirit of giving." Abercrombie
& Fitch articles included titles like "I'll have a brew Christmas,"
"7 ways to survive a holiday gathering with your relatives,"
"Drinking 101" which included recipes and a device for playing
drinking games.
5) TRADEMARK: Abercrombie & Fitch displayed its trade-
marks throughout e Quarterly on nearly every page. e
American Eagle catalog also prominently displayed their
marks. While both companies liberally using their trade-
marks throughout their catalogs was a similarity, the court
found that it was also a di erence, because each used its own
trademark and trademarks as an indication of a product's
origin.
For Evaluation Purposes Only