Affliction has acted with the intention of trading off A & F’s goodwill in the AF Marks, and of diverting to itself persons who are interested in the products of A & F.”

American preppy favourite Abercrombie & Fitch Co. have filed a law suit in an Ohio Federal court against apparel makers- Affliction Clothing for trademark infringement.
Abercrombie & Fitch have taken issue with Affliction Clothing’s use of ‘AF’ on its American Fighter clothing range. The Complaint says American Fighter- a mixed-martial arts-themed line of graphic T-shirt and other apparel is copying the style to exploit Abercrombie’s popularity.
Further the suit claims “Affliction has acted with the intention of trading off A F’s goodwill in the AF marks, and of diverting to itself persons who are interested in the products of A & F.”
Abercrombie & Fitch have used the acronym AF on their clothing for more than twenty years and the company owns eight registrations of the AF acronym.
The suit included several images showing Abercrombie’s use of AF on their apparel, alongside similar-looking versions of apparel by Affliction Clothing.
Abercrombie & Fitch says it first reached out to Affliction Clothing in June, “advising them that their apparel was infringing Abercrombie & Fitch’s rights in its AF marks” and asked that Affliction Clothing “immediately cease its infringement.” The retailer says it reached out twice more in August without success.

Â

Written by Fozia Cheychi A work exprience student.

Â