It's just a tiny piece of cloth, measuring less than a square inch.

But the distinctive red tab Levi Strauss & Co. affixes to its jeans pockets and other garment seams has been identifying its goods since 1936. And the company doesn't like it when other clothing manufacturers—especially jeans makers—affix tabs to their own pockets.

That's led to Levi Strauss & Co. v. Neverland Online Pty, filed Friday before Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong in the Northern District of California.

The suit accuses Australia's Neverland of selling “substantial quantities of jeans, shorts, track pants, and jackets bearing pocket tab devices that are highly similar to LS&Co.'s Tab trademark … and are likely to confuse consumers about the source of Neverland's products and/or a relationship between Neverland and LS&Co.”

Kilpatrick Townsend partners Gregory Gilchrist and Ryan Bricker and counsel Gia Cincone are representing Levi Strauss.

According to their complaint Levi Strauss' national sales manager in the 1930s, Leo Christopher Lucier, proposed the idea of placing a folding cloth ribbon in the structural seams of the rear pocket. “Mr. Lucier asserted that 'no other maker of overalls can have any other purpose in putting a colored tab on an outside patch pocket, unless for the express and sole purpose of copying our mark, and confusing the customer,'” states the complaint, signed by Bricker.

The company continues to use the tab today in a variety of colors on various garments.

Neverland, which is based in suburban Melbourne, markets jeans under brands that include NXP, KSCY, and Nena and Pasadena. They are offered for sale in the United States and appear to feature a similarly sized tab, albeit white and often on the outside of the back pocket, rather than on the inside, as is typical with Levi's.

The suit accuses Neverland of trademark infringement and dilution under California and federal law; false designation of origin; and unfair competition. Levi Strauss is seeking damages and lost profits, and an order preventing Neverland from selling “any product that bears the Neverland Tab.”

An email to Neverland's general email address seeking comment was not immediately returned Monday afternoon.