It’s been nearly a decade since Connor Curran and Dustin Paisley set out to create a clothing brand that felt uniquely Calgary. Chances are, you’ve seen their stuff around town.
“We were proud to be from Calgary and we were proud to be YYC,” Paisley explained. “But even more so, we were proud to be Canadian and it spurred the inspiration to create a design like this.”
They say they also felt they had done everything right when it came to protecting their designs.
“Registering a trademark is actually very difficult and it’s very costly,” Curran said, “especially as a small business.”
Curran also sits on the Calgary Chamber of Commerce board of directors.
“This was a major financial decision for us at the time and it’s still a major decision anytime we go to trademark new designs.
“It takes many years, we had the lawyers involved, and it’s thousands of dollars.”
So when a customer contacted Local Laundry in March of 2023 saying they saw an alarmingly similar T-shirt being sold at Walmart, the pair checked it out for themselves.
The designs both feature two simple crossed lines and the letters C, A, N, but where Local Laundry features a maple leaf, Walmart has a moose.
“I was disappointed,” Paisley said. “I was pretty sad and I was a little mad to see that they were using a confusingly similar mark.
“We have spent a lot of time and energy on our designs, on building our brand.
“We believe we have the right to defend that.”
Local Laundry said it contacted Walmart Canada through its infringement portal, but months later, the shirts are still on the shelves. They say Walmart declined to stop selling the product.
Walmart Canada told Global News it is reviewing the matter.
Calgary trademark lawyer William Stemp says, legally, it’s difficult to draw a hard line in cases like this.
“There’s no 10 or 20 per cent difference; there is only the concept of whether the two designs appear to be quite similar to the point where you would think that the designs come from the same source, same company, or appear to be quite distinct and quite different,” Stemp noted.
While the Canadian Intellectual Property Office grants intellectual property rights — like trademarks — it doesn’t enforce them.
That’s the responsibility of the trademark holder, according to the federal government.
Local Laundry says it’s leaving all legal options on the table, but above all, they hope Canadians will choose to support local businesses.
“Here we are, a Canadian small business, printing, sewing, cutting, shipping designing all here in Canada. It’s a Canadian garment through and through,” Curran said.
“It was shocking to see how many other small businesses have gone through the same things — gone through the same hoops, paid the same expenses, have gone through all that trouble of trademarking to be in the exact same position we are. It feels like it was all for nothing.”