L.L.Bean has voluntarily dropped a trademark infringement lawsuit it brought against Counselor Top 40 firm 4imprint (asi/197045), the largest distributor by revenue in the North American promotional products industry.

L.L.Bean, a 113-year-old privately owned company that sells outdoors-focused products ranging from apparel and footwear to canoes, filed to have the case dismissed with prejudice on April 24, court records show. A “with-prejudice” dismissal means the case is permanently closed and cannot be brought back to court.

The Maine-based retailer did not give a reason for withdrawing the case. ASI Media reached out to 4imprint for comment but had not heard back as of this writing.

L.L.Bean accused 4imprint of ripping off its “Boat and Tote” trademark, which the retailer has used in connection with canvas carryall bags that it has marketed and sold since 1965.

The now-withdrawn suit said 4imprint markets and sells more than a dozen bags/products that are “virtually identical” to or in the same product category as the L.L.Bean Boat and Tote bags.

A search for “Boat Tote” on 4imprint’s site showed no products with the term “boat” in the product name. A number of suppliers in the promo space carry bags with “Boat Tote” branding, but none were named in the suit.

Based on reported 2023 North American promo product revenue of $1.3 billion, 4imprint ranked first on Counselor’s most recent list of the largest distributors in the industry. The firm recently reported that it increased North American promo revenue year over year in 2024 by 3% to $1.34 billion.