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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

South Butt Founder|Tells It Like It Is

ST. LOUIS (CN) - Unlike President Bill Clinton, South Butt Founder Jimmy Winkelmann did inhale, and he's not ashamed of it. Outdoor apparel maker North Face is trying to shut down South Butt on trademark claims; Winkelmann, a freshman at the University of Missouri, spoke frankly during a recent deposition. "I am not sure, but I think they were trying to embarrass me," Winkelmann said later.

North Face attorneys asked Winkelmann about a charge of being a minor in possession of alcohol at a Halloween party last fall, and a ticket on another occasion for possession of a small amount of marijuana, which was amended to littering. Both infractions were municipal ordinance charges.

"At first I did not want them to tell my dad, but then the more I thought about it, the more I felt like I should tell my dad myself," Winkelmann said in a statement. "I am proud of The South Butt and study hard. But that does not mean I don't like to relax."

Winkelmann, an engineering major, made the Honor Roll in his first semester, nailing three A's and a B+. He has been admitted to the University of Missouri's Honors College.

North Face claims Winkelmann's South Butt images and logo are confusingly similar to the North Face brand.

"It is a sad day when a behemoth corporation elects to use its legal counsel during a deposition to discredit a hard-working teen-ager because he was in possession of beer and accused of possessing a small amount of pot," Winkelmann's attorney Albert Watkins said in a statement.

"Consideration was given to presenting a Clintonesque defense to the character attack, except Jimmy wanted to make sure everyone knew he inhaled."

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