Quiksilver wins Kymsta case
Quiksilver, Inc has won its Federal court trial against Kymsta Corp and its claims against Quiksilver and its Roxy trademark.
To protect the Roxy mark against Kymsta’s use of the similar Roxywear on juniors apparel, Quiksilver originally filed the action, Quiksilver, Inc. vs. Kymsta Corp., in May 2002. After a two-week jury trial in 2004, the Federal District Court awarded Quiksilver judgment as a matter of law, granting the company the relief it requested, an injunction limiting Kymsta to its then-current use of Roxywear and preventing it from expanding, licensing or selling the mark. Kymsta appealed the injunction, and the Ninth Circuit in 2006 reversed the order, finding that certain issues should have been decided by the jury and remanded for retrial.
While the case was on appeal, Kymsta dropped its junior line and started to use Roxywear on contemporary apparel. Given that Kymsta had ceased using Roxywear in the juniors market where it originated, and instead begun using Roxywear in the contemporary market, Quiksilver sought to enjoin Kymsta from all future use of the Roxywear mark in the retrial. At the conclusion of the three-week retrial, 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.
Federal District Court Judge, Valerie Baker Fairbank, found that Quiksilver has the unfettered right to use its Roxy trademark and barred Kymsta from any future use of the Roxywear trademark, subject to an 18-month phase-out period.
