Jack Wolfskin is among the leading providers of functional outdoor clothing, footwear and equipment in Europe and the largest franchisor in the German specialist sports retail market. There are more than 600 franchise stores and 4,000 sales locations throughout Europe and Asia.
Founded 1981 in Frankfurt, Jack Wolfskin has its company headquarter today in Idstein in the Taunus region of Germany and employs more than 600 employees.
Jack Wolfskin has a history of aggressive legal action related to their paw print logo. In 2002 they succeeded in prohibiting the taz newspaper from using a paw print design on merchandise designed for outdoor use on the grounds that the taz logo designed in 1978 was not registered as a trademark, whereas the Jack Wolfskin logo was registered in 1982. This led to many people boycotting their products.
In October 2009 Jack Wolfskin's lawyers sent demands for damage payments to handicraft hobbyists who had used paw designs in their creations, irrespective of whether the paw design was of wolf, cat or other animal. This prompted a backlash in online forums for handicrafts and bloggers documenting corporate behaviour, outraged at the bullying tactics used by a large firm against individual hobbyists with barely measurable income through clothing and no intention to mimic Jack Wolfskin goods. The protest reached national news media in Germany. A blunt refusal to back down by Jack Wolfskin led to calls to boycott their products in several online communities in Germany and abroad. As the impact of the negative publicity became apparent Jack Wolfskin later issued a press release to indicate they would in future open dialog directly with people it suspected of breaching its copyright, rather than sending damage payment demands as the first contact.
