SKECHERS USA Inc announced that it won a major victory in a trademark lawsuit filed against Skechers by Asics Corporation and Asics America Corporation (collectively “Asics”). The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California denied Asics' motion for a preliminary injunction against Skechers, expressly finding that there are “substantial” differences between Asics' trademark and Skechers' stripe designs.
Asics sued the company for trademark infringement, unfair competition, trademark dilution and false advertising, claiming that the stripe design on four Skechers shoe styles infringes Asics' stripe trademark. Asics sought a preliminary injunction against Skechers to prevent Skechers from making and selling the four shoe styles.
After hearing oral argument, the court denied Asics' motion. In a 21-page opinion dated April 25, 2007, the court found that Asics had not shown that it is likely to succeed in its trademark infringement case against Skechers. The District Court's opinion states: “the designs are quite different and in the marketplace the shoes appear highly dissimilar.” The court also found that the Asics trademark and Skechers stripes were not similar enough to infer that Skechers copied its designs from Asics.
“We feel vindicated by the court's opinion that there are 'substantial' differences between the Skechers stripe designs and the Asics' trademark,” stated Philip G. Paccione, General Counsel of Skechers.
“As we have said all along, the Asics suit is nothing more than an attempt to monopolize the use of common design elements, undermine legitimate competition and intimidate retailers. Skechers is hip, cutting edge and original in its shoe designs, and does not attempt to trade on the brand image and identity of any company other than Skechers.”
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