Judge dismisses Columbia Sportswear lawsuit
A self-styled ‘David and Goliath’ lawsuit filed by Innovation Sports against Columbia Sportswear has been settled with the judge dismissing five out of the six claims and both sides walking away
Innovation claimed the US brand had stolen its ideas for a heated jacket, which it subsequently brought to market.
Under the terms of the agreement, both parties paid their own legal fees, and nothing to each other. Innovation’s CEO Colby Taylor is barred from appealing, and from contacting any Columbia employees.
He said: "While I am relieved that this process has come to an end, I feel as though our legal system didn’t explore every angle of this case and because of this, I am afraid large companies, like Columbia, will still take advantage of smaller companies like Innovative.
“Information vital to the case was missing and wasn’t being voluntarily offered by Columbia. By denying our motion to postpone, we didn't have the necessary time to ascertain that information which made us severely limited in our capacity."
Peter Bragdon, Columbia’s general counsel, said in a statement: "The dismissal and withdrawal of all the claims confirms our contention that this lawsuit was a wasteful work of fiction. All of the terms of the written agreement for the dismissal of the claims are public and underscore what we have stated previously: Columbia refused to pay a single penny to settle frivolous and false claims."
