A trademark application has emerged for the brand Tenore, which aims to make wetsuits, apparel, and other products under the name.
The application, which was filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Oct. 18, is currently pending.
Its owner is a company registered in Delaware called Parre Inc., which has a Santa Monica address listed on its application.
Parre is seeking to make a number of Tenore-branded products, including fragrances, eyewear, wetsuits, mouth guards, jewelry, joggers, jackets, coats, headwear, equipment for boxing and martial arts, and several other items, according to its USPTO application.
The attorney who filed the application did not respond to a request for comment from SES on the brand’s ownership on Monday.
RVCA founder Pat Tenore exited RVCA after the sale of the brand to Authentic Brands Group as part of the Boardriders acquisition in September.
Tenore, who was closely tied to RVCA and in many ways the face of the brand before the Authentic acquisition, did not respond to requests for comment Monday on the Tenore trademark and if he’s involved with the brand. In July, he hosted an art show with many pieces that had previously been at RVCA headquarters and a show flyer that depicted many Boardriders brands, including RVCA, on tombstones.
Former RVCA surfer Billy Kemper was seen wearing the brand Tenore, with a macron placed above the “o,” during the opening ceremony for the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational and during the Pipeline Masters this month. The brand’s also on Kemper’s board.
Billy Kemper is seen wearing the brand Tenore. Billy Kemper/Instagram.
Kemper did not respond to a request for comment on the brand or if he’s involved with it.
The pro surfer said last month he would not renew his contract with RVCA in large part due to Tenore no longer being at the helm of the company and instead alluded to “this next chapter of building a tribe,” writing “it’s time to shine” for Tenore in an Instagram post.
“It’s unfortunate that only a few of us were even offered a contract to stay with a brand (RVCA) that was built with team effort, guided by the one and only @pmtenore,” Kemper wrote on Instagram of his leaving the company. “That being said, without him there’s no leadership and with no leader there’s no tribe.”
As RVCA and other Boardriders brands transition to a licensing model under Authentic Brands’ ownership, marketing spend is also shifting as alluded by Kemper. In the licensing model, new brand operators have to pay minimum guaranteed royalties annually to Authentic, which translates to leaner business operations, including tighter executive teams and marketing budgets.
In September, the license for RVCA and several other brands’ U.S. and Canada retail and e-commerce businesses went to Liberated Brands. The deal also included Liberated taking on the license and wholesale distribution in the U.S. and Canada for RVCA sportswear, activewear, swimwear, outerwear, headwear, and base layer apparel. Liberated also has the wholesale license for Billabong.
Liberated declined to comment on Kemper’s post.
