L.L. Bean Inc. v. Drake Publishers Inc‪.‬

Before Campbell, Chief Judge, Coffin and Bownes, Circuit Judges. BOWNES, Circuit Judge. Imitation may be the highest form of flattery, but plaintiff-appellee L.L. Bean, Inc. was neither flattered nor amused when High Society magazine published a prurient parody of Bean's famous catalog. Defendant-appellant Drake Publishers, Inc., owns High Society, a monthly periodical featuring adult erotic entertainment. Its October 1984 issue contained a two-page article entitled ""L.L. Beam's Back-To-School-Sex-Catalog."" (Emphasis added.) The article was labelled on the magazine's contents page as ""humor"" and ""parody."" The article displayed a facsimile of Bean's trademark and featured pictures of nude models in sexually explicit positions using ""products"" that were described in a crudely humorous fashion.