ONE OF THE WORLD’S best-known swimwear companies is suing an Australian man over his collection of blogs – all of which cater to people with sexual fetishes for its products – for trademark infringement.
Dave Evans, 24, who goes by the online pseudonym ‘aussiespeedoboy’, has registered several websites featuring galleries of men wearing Speedo clothing.
Now the company has gone to Australia’s federal court in Canberra hoping to block his websites, arguing that the “nudity and graphic sexual content” is damaging its brand while also claiming that its trademarks have been violated.
The Sydney Morning Herald said Speedo believed the “substantial and valuable reputation and goodwill” associated with its branding was being undermined by Evans’ websites.
Speedo’s brand “has been worn by a majority of medal winning and record breaking athletes,” it said, adding that it had sponsored ”sponsored many well-known athletes”.
The company is demanding that Evans be made transfer ownership of his websites’ domain names back to Speedo, and is seeking unspecified damages.
Writing on his blog, Evans argues that the word ‘Speedo’ has now become generic, referring to any kind of similar swimwear.
“I can’t blame the Speedo Corporation or their lawyers for doing what they think is right – even if we think they are wrong,” he said.
Evans claims to own 50 pairs of Speedos and to have a fetish for the clothing. One of his sites, a Speedo-themed pornographic website, charges users for membership.
“I’ve had a ‘thing’ for speedos as long as I can remember, and they have been a major part of my sex life and sexuality.”
Speedo are not the first company to sue over damage caused to its brand: US clothing chain Abercrombie & Fitch offered one Jersey Shore star, Mike ‘The Situation’ Sorrentino, money in exchange for an agreement not to wear its clothing.
