Black Diamond sends cease and desist notice to Walmart
The filing comes one day after the big box discount store announced its new premium outdoor site.
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Black Diamond Equipment today sent a cease and desist notice to Walmart, in response to the giant retailer’s launch of a new premium outdoor store curated by Moosejaw.
“We did not see or approve the statement which Walmart released Monday and have never sold to Walmart,” said John Walbrecht, Black Diamond’s president, in a press release. “Black Diamond remains committed to our specialty retail partners and we do not plan on deviating from this strategy.”
The letter demands Walmart to stop using the Black Diamond and diamond logo trademarks “in a manner likely to confuse consumers into believing that Walmart is an authorized dealer of Black Diamond or that the new outdoor Walmart.com site is otherwise associated with or sponsored by Black Diamond.”
The letter also demands that Walmart cease its “infringing” use of several hundred copyrighted photographs, which Black Diamond says it owns.
On Monday, Walmart and Moosejaw announced collaboration on the premium outdoor store, with nearly 50 brands—Craghoppers, Black Diamond, LEKI, Deuter, Jack Wolfskin, KLYMIT, Tentsile, and others—available for purchase online only.
A Walmart corporate spokesperson reached Tuesday evening said, “We’re really excited about our new Premium Outdoor destination curated by Moosejaw. At a time when the outdoor industry is working hard to expose more people to the amazing experiences they can have outside, we feel like it’s a really positive development.”
The spokesperson continued, “The decision to be part of this new experience will continue to be up to each brand, and our hope is that brands, and even other retailers, share our commitment to driving a truly inclusive outdoor industry. As we grow the Premium Outdoor Store, we will continue to look for leading brands and retailers that want to reach a new, wider audience.”
Despite launching Monday, all Black Diamond products listed for sale—helmets, carabiners, headlamps—in the outdoor store were “out of stock” as of Tuesday afternoon.
Moosejaw, a Michigan based retailer with ten stores and online presence, was purchased for $51 million by Walmart in February 2017.
Black Diamond has worked with Moosejaw for over 10 years.
