Opinion ID: 204313
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Stitched Designs

Text: Levi Strauss created, and began selling, blue jeans in the 1870s. Since 1873, the company has stitched the back pocket of its jeans with two connecting arches that meet in the center of the pocket; Levi Strauss holds a federally registered trademark on this Arcuate design. Sales of garments bearing the Arcuate mark have accounted for more than ninety-five percent of Levi Strauss's revenue over the past thirty years, totaling roughly fifty billion dollars. Levi Strauss actively monitors use of competing stitching designs and enforces its trademark rights against perceived infringers. In 2006, Abercrombie began using a stitching design on the back pockets of its jeans that, according to Levi Strauss, incorporates the distinctive arcing elements of the Arcuate trademark. Appellant's Br. 4. Abercrombie's Ruehl design consists of two less-pronounced arches that are connected by a dipsy doodle, which resembles the mathematical sign for infinity. The design on the Abercrombie jeans sits lower on the pocket than Levi Strauss's Arcuate design. []