Cancer charity starts litigation against Eddie Bauer
09/08/2011
Eddie Bauer has a brand of jackets, pants, baselayer garments and fleece tops that it makes with high levels of input from mountain guides. The brand is called First Ascents, reflecting the founder’s list of achievements as part of expeditions that completed the first ascent of a number of mountains, including Mount Kennedy in Canada and the Vinson Massif in Antarctica. The organisation that runs adventure activities for cancer sufferers is called First Descents.
First Descents was founded in 2001 to offer “adventure therapy” through activities such as whitewater kayaking, rock climbing, mountaineering and surfing. On announcing the legal action, the Colorado-based organisation said: “First Descents has become aware of significant consumer confusion in the outdoor community resulting from Eddie Bauer’s introduction of its First Ascent retail outdoor clothing lines and its sponsored First Ascent outdoor teams that compete at the same outdoor events as First Descents’ fundraising teams. When efforts to eliminate confusion about a perceived affiliation between Eddie Bauer and First Descents failed, First Descents brought its lawsuit to protect its trademark rights.”
First Descents founder, Brad Ludden, added: “The mission of First Descents is crucial to young adult cancer fighters and survivors. While litigation was not my preferred path, it’s imperative that the experience we’ve provided for more than 1,000 young adults with cancer over the last 11 years, and that we continue to provide, is in no way confused with Eddie Bauer’s sponsored teams and retail clothing lines.”
Almost 24 hours after the announcement, there was no official response from Eddie Bauer, including on the website, Twitter page and blog it devotes to First Ascent.
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