The Situation Loses Trademark Infringement Lawsuit Against Abercrombie and Fitch
Celebrity

The former 'Jersey Shore' star sued the clothing line for infringing on his nickname but lost due to bad timing.

AceShowbiz - Reality TV show star Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino may yet be having his worst birthday ever today after losing the lawsuit he filed against clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch. The "Jersey Shore" cast member sued the company back in November 2011 over shirts that allegedly infringed on his famous nickname and another term associated with his show.

Sorrentino claimed A&F violated his legal copyright when it came out with shirts bearing the slogans "The Fitchuation" and "GTL Fitch" ("GTL" stands for "Gym Tan Laundry," a lifestyle made popular by the MTV reality series.) The 32-year-old TV personality had demanded A&F to pull-out the shirts from stores, saying it amounted to exploitation, which they dismissed, resulting to Sorrentino proceeding to file a lawsuit against them, asking $4 million in damages.

However, based on the ruling on the case, poor timing has worked against Sorrentino, with U.S. Magistrate Judge John O'Sullivan saying that he did not properly trademark the terms "The Situation" and "Gym Tan Laundry" early enough for the actions of A&F to amount to copyright infringement. The Florida federal judge added that Sorrentino "did not offer apparel until after A&F introduced its parody T-shirt, and even then only on their website, officialsituation.com."

Abercrombie & Fitch welcomed the good news in a statement, saying, "We believed that the complaint against us was frivolous from the beginning, and we feel fully vindicated by the result. As to the underlying issues, we think that the entire matter is yesterday's news."

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