Patagonia drops lawsuit against Marden’s over claims of counterfeit products, including jackets

BANGOR, Maine (WMTW) - Patagonia has dropped its trademark infringement lawsuit against Marden’s, two months after the outdoor apparel company claimed the Maine-based retailer sold approximately 90 counterfeit products, including fake Patagonia jackets.

Court records obtained by our media partner, WMTW, indicate the Patagonia v. Marden’s case was voluntarily dismissed on Thursday.

In the lawsuit, which was filed March 18, Patagonia claimed the counterfeit products sold at the Marden’s store in Scarborough closely resembled genuine Patagonia merchandise but were of significantly lower quality. The California-based company argued the sale of those items caused “incalculable and irreparable damage” to the Patagonia brand and licensing agreements.

Marden’s stated that the jackets were sold to them as authentic Patagonia products and that they were aggressively investigating the issue. The company removed all remaining questionable products from its stores.

Patagonia was demanding a jury trial in the case when the lawsuit was first filed.

The founder of Patagonia, Yvon Chouinard, was born in Lewiston, Maine. Chouinard’s family moved to Southern California before he was 10.

Chouinard went on to found Patagonia in 1973 and in 2022, he and his family transferred their ownership of the Patagonia Purpose Trust and the nonprofit organization Holdfast Collective, which are both dedicated to fighting climate change. Patagonia was valued at about $3 billion at the time the Chouinard family transferred ownership.

Marden’s was founded in 1964 by Harold “Mickey” Marden when he opened the original store in Fairfield. The retailer now has 14 locations across Maine.