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.
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