SKECHERS Scores Major Victories in Patent Dispute with adidas
June 15 2017 - 9:10AM
Business Wire
-Court Denies adidas’ Motion for a
Preliminary Injunction
-Court Dismisses adidas’ Claim for Willful
Infringement Against Skechers
SKECHERS USA, INC. (NYSE: SKX), a global lifestyle and
performance footwear brand, today announced that in two separate
rulings the United States District Court for the District of Oregon
denied adidas’ motion for a preliminary injunction seeking to
prevent Skechers from selling its Mega-Blade series of children’s
shoes, and dismissed adidas’ claim against Skechers for willful
infringement of two patents allegedly covering adidas’ Springblade
shoes.
In July 2016, adidas sued Skechers in U.S. District Court of
Oregon alleging that Skechers’ Mega-Blade series of children’s
shoes infringed two separate adidas patents covering the “leaf
spring” sole for its Springblade shoe style. adidas’ complaint also
alleged that Skechers intentionally and willfully infringed both
patents and sought enhanced damages. adidas also moved for a
preliminary injunction that same month seeking to prohibit
Skechers, among other things, from selling the Mega-Blade
shoes.
In denying adidas’ motion for a preliminary injunction, the
Court found that adidas was unable to show that it is likely to win
the case at trial, referring to a ruling in a related proceeding
before the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) where
Skechers produced evidence that adidas’ patents were invalid and
convinced the PTAB to institute an inter partes review of the
patents. The Court stated that adidas “cannot, at this time, show a
likelihood of success on the merits” because “81 percent of [PTAB
review proceedings] result in invalidation of at least some of the
challenged claims, and 65 percent invalidated all of the challenged
claims.”
adidas also argued that the sale of the Mega-Blade shoes causes
adidas irreparable harm by having an adverse effect on the
reputation, sales, pricing and market share of the adidas
Springblade model. The Court disagreed with adidas, citing the
complete absence of any evidence and stating, that “adidas’
evidence of irreparable injury is too conclusory and speculative to
meet adidas’ burden for a preliminary injunction.”
In a separate ruling the same day, the Court dismissed adidas’
claim for willful and intentional infringement against Skechers,
stating that adidas failed to plead any “facts from which the Court
may draw the reasonable inference that [Skechers] knew of the
patents-in-suit either when they issued or any time before [adidas]
filed this lawsuit. Thus, [adidas’] allegations are insufficient to
state a claim for willful infringement based on [Skechers’ conduct]
before the lawsuit was filed.”
“The Court’s ruling inherently recognizes the weak and
speculative nature of adidas’ allegations against Skechers,” stated
Michael Greenberg, president of Skechers. “As owners of a vast
worldwide portfolio of trademarks, patents and copyrights, Skechers
respects the intellectual property rights of other companies and
has invested tremendous resources into building a brand identity by
developing its own distinctive designs, not by copying others. We
are pleased with both of the Court’s rulings.”
Skechers is represented in the matter by Daniel Petrocelli, Mark
Samuels, Jeffrey Barker and Brian Berliner of O'Melveny & Myers
LLP.
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 2,055 Skechers Company-owned and
third-party-owned retail stores, and the Company’s e-commerce
websites. The Company manages its international business through a
network of global distributors, joint venture partners in Asia and
the Middle East, and wholly-owned subsidiaries in Canada, Japan,
throughout Europe and Latin America. 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, opening of new stores and additional
expenditures, 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; 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, especially in
the highly competitive performance footwear market; 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, 2016 and its quarterly report
on Form 10-Q for the three months ended March 31, 2017. 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.
View source
version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170615005573/en/
SKECHERS USAJennifer Clay, 310-937-1326jennc@skechers.com
Skechers USA (NYSE:SKX)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Skechers USA (NYSE:SKX)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024