Quiksilver President pleased with decision of court for Kymsta issue

23 Feb '10

3 min read

Quiksilver, Inc. announced that it has once again prevailed in what it hopes will be the final chapter of its Federal court trial against Kymsta Corporation and Kymsta's unfounded claims against Quiksilver and Quiksilver's “Roxy” trademark. Kymsta had appealed Quiksilver's last two trial victories in the long-standing dispute. In the most recent action, and consistent with the outcome of the first trial in 2004, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals imposed a very broad injunction on Kymsta to narrowly restrict its activities and use of its offending “Roxywear” name in order to eliminate any consumer confusion in the marketplace and the ability of Kymsta to trade on the fame of the “Roxy” trademark.

Robert B. McKnight, Jr., Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of Quiksilver, Inc., stated, “We are again pleased with the decision of the court and we hope that this judgment finally marks the end of the line for Kymsta on this issue. As a matter of principle and financial responsibility, we are deeply committed to protecting and defending our trademarks. This victory protects our valuable 'Roxy' mark and protects consumers from confusion in the marketplace.”

To protect the “Roxy” mark against Kymsta's use of the confusingly similar “Roxywear” name on juniors apparel, Quiksilver originally filed the action, Quiksilver, Inc. vs. Kymsta Corp., in the United States District Court for the Central District of California in May, 2002. After a two-week jury trial in 2004, the Federal District Court awarded Quiksilver judgment as a matter of law, granting Quiksilver the relief it requested. The resulting very broad injunction limited Kymsta to its then-current use of “Roxywear” as non-branded private label product with qualifying characteristics to clearly identify that it was owned by Kymsta and with very limited distribution rights, and prevented Kymsta from expanding, licensing or selling the mark. Kymsta appealed the injunction, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in 2006 reversed the order, finding that certain issues should have been decided by the jury, and remanded the case for retrial.

At the conclusion of the three-week retrial in 2008, the jury unanimously found that Quiksilver's “Roxy” trademark is valid and protectable and that Kymsta's “Roxywear” infringed the “Roxy” mark and constituted a false designation of the origin of Kymsta's goods. As the prevailing party, Quiksilver was also awarded a judgment to collect all of its court costs from Kymsta. Kymsta again appealed the 2008 ruling, which resulted in the recent decision made by a three-judge panel in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Mr. McKnight further stated, “From the beginning we had proposed a co-existence agreement that offered Kymsta the ability to retain their then-current use of the 'Roxywear' name. It's unfortunate that Kymsta has caused each of us to expend significant time and financial resources to arrive at a conclusion that is mor

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