- Patagonia filed a lawsuit against Gap, claiming that Gap copied the clothing brand's snap-front fleece pullover.
- The suit says that Gap's product could fool shoppers into thinking it's a Patagonia collaboration.
- Gap's product listing says the fleece was "pulled from our archive and redesigned for today."
Patagonia is suing Gap, claiming the rival retailer ripped off the design of one of Patagonia's most well-known products.
The outdoors retailer says Gap's Arctic Fleece pullover for men and kids uses "look-a-like" design elements of Patagonia's Snap-T Fleece. The similarities could confuse shoppers, who may think the fleece is part of a collaboration with Patagonia, the company claimed in a suit filed this month in US District Court in Northern California.
The filing claims that Gap intentionally copied several elements of Patagonia's fleece, including the piping on the collar, cuffs, and waist; the snap pocket and matching snap placket rendered in contrasting colors to the fleece; and the rectangular logo placed above the pocket.
Gap's logo also bears a striking resemblance to Patagonia's mountain-range logo, Patagonia says.
"Not all consumers will 'zoom in,' either at point of sale or post-sale," Patagonia's suit reads. "And even if consumers do zoom in, they are likely to believe this is one of Gap's many collaborations."
Patagonia introduced the Snap-T Fleece in 1985, and by the late 1990s, several other brands were using fleece in their products, including L.L. Bean, Lands' End, and Gap, according to The New York Times. The product description for Gap's fleece pullover says that the product was "pulled from our archive and redesigned for today," and though it's unclear when Gap's Arctic Fleece line was introduced, similar Gap products from the '80s and '90s are available to buy now on resale sites like Depop and Grailed.
Patagonia said in its suit that it had previously warned Gap that its designs violated Patagonia's trade dress, or the look and feel of a product, and that "its adoption of designs and logos bearing even more similarity cannot have occurred by accident."
Patagonia has requested a trial and is demanding the Gap hand over its entire inventory of fleeces and as well as profits from its sales of the product, plus damages.
A spokesperson for Gap told Insider that the company doesn't comment on pending litigation.
Patagonia's suit comes amid a challenging time for Gap, which is dealing with a surplus of inventory — the result of both disrupted supply chains and a shift in consumer demand — and the demise of its partnership with Kanye West's Yeezy. Gap pulled Yeezy products from its stores in October, and the company said during its third-quarter earnings this month that it sustained a $53 million write-down related to Yeezy Gap merchandise.