4imprint (PPAI 107200, Platinum) – PPAI 100’s No. 1 distributor, which reported earnings of $1.6 billion in 2024 (both a company and an industry record) – has been sued by L.L.Bean for allegedly infringing on its trademark for its “Boat and Tote” bag.

The lawsuit, filed on Monday in U.S. District Court in Maine, claims that 4imprint is marketing and selling canvas tote bags under the name “Boat Tote,” a phrase L.L.Bean argues is too similar to its registered “Boat and Tote” trademark.

4imprint advertises nearly a dozen products with names like “Boat Tote Cooler” and “Canvas Sling Boat Tote,” targeting the same customer base through overlapping sales channels, according to the complaint.

  • The retail giant says the Oshkosh, Wisconsin-based company denied a request in January to stop using the name.
  • The lawsuit alleges willful infringement, false designation of origin, unfair competition and trademark dilution under both federal and Maine law.

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The Freeport, Maine-based company is seeking an injunction to stop 4imprint from using the name, as well as damages, attorneys’ fees and an order requiring the destruction of infringing materials.

  • L.L.Bean, which claims to have used the name exclusively since 1965, says the brand is one of its most recognizable assets, “generating more than $10 million in annual revenue.”


4imprint hasn’t yet responded to requests for comment from PPAI Media.

Promo Perspective

Protecting intellectual property (IP) is a major concern for the promotional products industry, which is fueled by creativity and innovation.

  • Trademarks, copyrights and patents are designed to distinguish one’s products or services from another’s.
  • Those protections enable customers to know what they can expect, ultimately building brand loyalty.


Although the need to protect IP isn’t called into play until someone infringes on it, suppliers, distributors, decorators and business service providers should keep an eye on the market to remain vigilant. For example, suppliers are urged to file a patent application before public disclosure.

“If you wait to file, you may waive your rights or limit the remedies,” said Justin Miller, Esq., a patent attorney with Larson & Larson, at the 2019 PPAI Product Responsibility Summit.

  • In a landmark legal victory for the promo industry in 2018, a federal court jury ruled in favor of ETS Express after the supplier was sued for alleged trademark infringement by Can’t Live Without It, LLC, dba S’well Bottle.


Conversely, you don’t want to infringe upon someone else’s IP when creating or designing products. When accepting an order, distributors should avoid the obvious such as Disney, Star Wars, Marvel characters and the like, as well as famous landmarks, slogans, logos, likenesses of celebrities and photos and art of unknown origin.

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“Fair use laws remain extremely gray, and companies incorporating copyrighted assets into their work should be aware that the case-by-case and context-sensitive evaluation lends itself to much subjective speculation about how a court of law, i.e., a judge or a panel of judges, may apply an objective analysis in determining whether a use of a copyrighted work is fair and thus non-infringing,” wrote Cory Halliburton, an attorney with Freeman Law and general counsel for PPAI, in a 2023 commentary on the Copyright Act’s ‘fair use’ doctrine.