SKECHERS USA, Inc. Sues Reebok for Infringing on SKECHERS GO WALK® Footwear Line
MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif.--(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 Reebok International Limited for selling footwear that infringes on the popular SKECHERS GO WALK® product line.
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 SKECHERS’ patent and trade dress rights and for unfair competition. The suit states that Reebok is selling the infringing products under the name Reebok Walk Ahead RS.
“SKECHERS has invested tremendous resources into designing, developing, advertising and patenting our SKECHERS GO WALK® product line and has built SKECHERS GO WALK® into a name and look globally recognized and synonymous with SKECHERS,” stated David Weinberg, Chief Operating Officer of SKECHERS. “While we prefer to compete in the market place, Reebok is selling its infringing footwear to SKECHERS wholesale customers and in other sales channels where SKECHERS GO WALK® is sold, and we believe this is causing us enormous damage. Considering our investment in SKECHERS GO WALK®, we cannot allow a company the size of Reebok, or any other company for that matter, to infringe on one of our most 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 SKECHERS GO WALK® as well as our other proprietary product lines, and any retailer that sells Reebok Walk Ahead RS.”
SKECHERS is being represented in the suit by Marshall Lerner of Kleinberg and Lerner in Los Angeles.
*Sporting Goods Intelligence, July 12, 2013
ABOUT SKECHERS USA, INC.
SKECHERS USA, Inc. (SKX), based in Manhattan Beach, California, designs, develops and markets a diverse range of footwear for men, women and children under the SKECHERS name. SKECHERS footwear is available in the United States via department and specialty stores, company-owned SKECHERS retail stores and its e-commerce website, and over 100 countries and territories through the company’s global network of distributors and subsidiaries in Brazil, Canada, Chile, Japan and across Europe, as well as through joint ventures in Asia. For more information, please visit www.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 growth, financial results and operations, its development of new products, future demand for its products and growth opportunities, and its planned opening of new stores, 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 the resignation of the Company’s former independent registered public accounting firm, and its withdrawal of its audit reports with respect to certain of the Company’s historical financial statements; international, national and local general economic, political and market conditions including the ongoing global economic slowdown and market instability; consumer preferences and rapid changes in technology in 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, 2013 and its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended March 31, 2014. 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.
SKECHERS USA, Inc.
Jennifer Clay, 310-937-1326
Source: SKECHERS USA, Inc.
Released Jun 19, 2014 • 9:05 am EDT