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 Steven
Madden Ltd. for selling footwear that infringes on the popular SKECHERS
GO WALK® product line as well as other popular SKECHERS product lines.
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. The suit states that Steven Madden is selling the infringing
products under its Steven by Steve Madden Line under the style name
Setta.
“SKECHERS has invested tremendous resources into designing, developing,
advertising and patenting our SKECHERS
GO WALK® and our other popular product lines and has built them 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, Steven Madden is selling its
infringing footwear to SKECHERS’ wholesale customers and in other sales
channels where the SKECHERS products are sold, and we believe this is
causing us enormous damage. Considering our investment in the SKECHERS
GO WALK® and our other product lines, we will not allow anyone to
infringe on some of our most valuable intellectual properties. We plan
on taking similar action against any company that develops any products
that infringe on the patents of the SKECHERS GO WALK® or any of our
other popular product lines, and any retailer that sells the Steven by
Steve Madden Setta style.”
SKECHERS
is being represented in the suit by Marshall Lerner and Vivian Wang of
Kleinberg & Lerner in Los Angeles.
*Sporting Goods Intelligence, July 12, 2013
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 120
countries and territories worldwide via department and specialty stores,
more than 1,050 SKECHERS 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 12
wholly-owned subsidiaries in Brazil, Canada, Chile, Japan 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 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, 2014 and its quarterly
report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended March 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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