P.Miller to fight back against frivolous Pepe Jeans lawsuit

04 Oct '08

4 min read

The P. Miller Designs clothing line is still in the testing phase and only available at 350 select Wal-Mart stores, yet already it has become the target of a frivolous lawsuit. The plaintiff, Pepe Leans London, LLC, is suing P. Miller over the presence of the most basic of logos: a circled "P."

P. Miller has been designing and manufacturing clothing with the circled-P style since 1989 and has been using an encircled P on its various garments from the very beginning. P. Miller clothing has been available worldwide through retailers such as JC Penny, Mervyn's, Sears, and Kohl's, and has never once been the subject of a lawsuit.

Normally during a dispute, one party will contact the other in hopes of reaching an agreement. In this particular situation, the plaintiff went straight to the courtroom without basis for claim. P. Miller legally registered a "circled-P with wings" mark through the US Patent and Trademark Office with a date of first-use of April 1, 2003.

The plaintiff in the suit, Pepe Jeans London, filed their date of first-use as June 1, 2003. The US Patent and Trademark Office recognizes the marks of both P. Miller and Pepe Jeans London as registered and unique. The marks are public record.

"I went to the website of PepeJeans.com and couldn't find a circled-P anywhere, on their clothing, or the brand advertising within the site," said P. Miller after searching their page. "I'm the future of affordable fashion and big brands will always hate me, but they shouldn't throw stones if they live in a glass house!"

"I make clothes for underprivileged and underserved families. P. Miller designs is about diversity. We cater to the African-American and Latino customer. I'm doing something positive for the community and I'm giving back. What are they doing? Hating? I thought this kind of thing only happened in the rap game. I put out a charitable rap album last year, made no money on it, tried to send a message to the kids about taking profanity out of their music, and because it came through Wal-Mart I was targeted with a lawsuit."

There is speculation that the suit has been brought forward at this point in time due to P. Miller's alliance with Wal-Mart, the number-one retailer in the country, which is often the target of bogus lawsuits. P. Miller and his legal team plan to fight back and defend their mark.

High fashion brands are mad that P. Miller is educating consumers that they can get the same high fashion styles at a great value.

"I'm the brand of the community. I sell jeans for $20 and t-shirts for $10. People don't buy my clothes for the logo. They buy them because it's high fashion at an affordable price. Just to prove my point, I'm confident that even if I take the circled-P logo, which by the way is probably the logo of several hundred other companies, off my spring line, people will still buy them! Is this ridiculous or what? They're also claiming that the design of the hang-tag that hangs from my garment with a strand of rope infringes on theirs. What other way is there to make a hang-tag, anyway?

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