SKECHERS USA, Inc. Sues Maker of Bernie Mev Footwear for Infringing on Its Skech-Air® by SKECHERS® Line
April 27 2016 - 10:36AM
Business Wire
SKECHERS USA, Inc. (NYSE:SKX), a global leader in the lifestyle
and performance footwear industry and the number two footwear brand
in the United States, today announced that it filed a lawsuit
against Eliya, Inc., maker of Bernie Mev footwear, for marketing
and distributing footwear that infringes on its popular Skech-Air®
by SKECHERS® product line.
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Skech-Air® by SKECHERS® and Bernie Mev
outsole design (Photo: Business Wire)
The suit, filed in the United States District Court for the
Central District of California, seeks compensatory and punitive
damages as well as injunctive relief for infringing on multiple
SKECHERS’ patents and the unique Skech-Air by SKECHERS trade dress
and for breaching a prior settlement agreement between the parties
relating to the Skech-Air by SKECHERS footwear design. The suit
states that Eliya is selling the infringing products as part of its
Bernie Mev Gummies collection.
“SKECHERS has invested tremendous resources into designing,
developing, advertising and patenting our Skech-Air by SKECHERS
product lines and has built them into a name and look globally
recognized and synonymous with SKECHERS,” stated David Weinberg,
chief operating officer and chief financial officer of SKECHERS.
“We confronted Eliya about the Bernie Mev Gummies styles last fall
when we saw them advertised and they represented to us that they
made no sales of the infringing products in the United States and
would not do so. However, the infringing Bernie Mev footwear is now
in domestic sales channels where the SKECHERS products are sold,
and we believe this is impacting our brand image and sales.
Considering our investment in the Skech-Air by SKECHERS product
lines, including national advertising campaigns, we will not allow
anyone to infringe on our valuable intellectual properties. We plan
on taking similar action against any company that develops any
products that infringe on the patents and trade dress of the
Skech-Air by SKECHERS product line or any of our other popular
product lines, and any retailer that sells the Bernie Mev Gummies
style.”
SKECHERS is being represented in the suit by Marshall Lerner and
Vivian Wang of Kleinberg & Lerner in Los Angeles.
About SKECHERS USA, Inc.
SKECHERS USA, Inc., based in Manhattan Beach, California,
designs, develops and markets a diverse range of lifestyle footwear
for men, women and children, as well as performance footwear for
men and women. SKECHERS footwear is available in the United States
and over 160 countries and territories worldwide via department and
specialty stores, more than 1,410 SKECHERS Company-owned and
third-party retail stores, and the Company’s e-commerce website.
The Company manages its international business through a network of
global distributors, joint venture partners in Asia, and
wholly-owned subsidiaries in Brazil, Canada, Chile, Japan, Latin
America and throughout Europe. For more information, please visit
skechers.com and follow us on Facebook (facebook.com/SKECHERS) and
Twitter (twitter.com/SKECHERSUSA).
This announcement contains forward-looking statements that are
made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking
statements include, without limitation, the Company’s future
domestic and international growth, financial results and operations
including expected net sales and earnings, its development of new
products, future demand for its products, its planned domestic and
international expansion and opening of new stores, the completion
of the expansion and upgrade of the Company’s European Distribution
Center, and advertising and marketing initiatives. Forward-looking
statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking language
such as “believe,” “anticipate,” “expect,” “estimate,” “intend,”
“plan,” “project,” “will be,” “will continue,” “will result,”
“could,” “may,” “might,” or any variations of such words with
similar meanings. Any such statements are subject to risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those projected in forward-looking statements. Factors that
might cause or contribute to such differences include international
economic, political and market conditions including the uncertainty
of sustained recovery in Europe; entry into the highly
competitive performance footwear market; sustaining, managing and
forecasting costs and proper inventory levels; losing any
significant customers; decreased demand by industry retailers and
cancellation of order commitments due to the lack of popularity of
particular designs and/or categories of products; maintaining brand
image and intense competition among sellers of footwear for
consumers; anticipating, identifying, interpreting or forecasting
changes in fashion trends, consumer demand for the products and the
various market factors described above; sales levels during the
spring, back-to-school and holiday selling seasons; and other
factors referenced or incorporated by reference in the Company’s
annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31,
2015. The risks included here are not exhaustive. The Company
operates in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment.
New risks emerge from time to time and the companies cannot predict
all such risk factors, nor can the companies assess the impact of
all such risk factors on their respective businesses or the extent
to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual
results to differ materially from those contained in any
forward-looking statements. Given these risks and uncertainties,
you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements
as a prediction of actual results. Moreover, reported results
should not be considered an indication of future performance.
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SKECHERS USA, Inc.Jennifer
Clay310-937-1326Jennc@skechers.com
Skechers USA (NYSE:SKX)
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