South butt claims parody defense when North Face says they're infringing on trademark

Too good to be true is this story about the North Face who filed a suit against South Butt for trademark infringement.

North face vs South Butt. Aaargh, pun-overload.

The suit can be read in full at Patentlyo. South Butt is the brand for people who wanna lay around while being comfortable, while North Face is for those who like fleece and activity, so clearly there's a brand difference. But, the way the logos look, one could assume that south butt is the humorous after-ski spin-off of North Face. South Butt's defense is teasing: Can you tell the difference between a face and a butt?, in their media-driven defense move. They even have a updated legal part of their site now, showing how it's all coming along.

As anchorplateip points out that so-called parody defense isn't going to mean much if it turns out that consumers are confusing the two brands of fleece-wear.

Hat tip @LeslieBAP