A 2012 lawsuit filed against Columbia Sportswear and it’s heated apparel line has been dropped by the plaintiff, the company reported this week. Innovative Sports, Eugene Ore., has withdrawn the lawsuit it filed against Columbia Sportswear in March 2012, when it accused the Portland-based outerwear company of unauthorized use of Innovative Sports’ heating technology.
In March 2012, Innovative Sports filed a claim against Columbia Sportswear, saying that the company used designs that had been discussed in earlier meetings without authorization. The lawsuit stated that the two companies had held meetings between 2004 and 2007 to discuss using Innovative Sports’ technologies in a line of outerwear. Those meetings did not result in a deal, and Columbia Sportswear launched its own line of heated apparel in 2009.
According to Columbia Sportswear, Innovative Sports had several lawyers withdraw from the case and was forced to file multiple extensions. This past march, a Lane County Circuit Court dismissed five of the six charges, including ones accusing Columbia Sportswear of misappropriating trade secrets. Earlier this month, Innovative Sports requested the dismissal of the case and provided written assurance that no future claims would be made. The court dismissed the case on April 16, and Columbia Sportswear has stated that it made no payments to Innovative Sports as part of the dismissal.
“The dismissal and withdrawal of all the claims confirms our contention that this lawsuit was a wasteful work of fiction,” said Peter Bragdon, Columbia Sportswear’s general counsel and senior vice president of corporate and legal affairs. “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.”
Aside from the lawsuit, Columbia Sportswear’s line of heated jackets has come under fire this year after reports that the batteries could overheat and pose a risk to consumers. The company issued two separate recalls for 12 varieties of jackets in January. The company has since stated that it would not offer electronically heated jackets in its winter 2013-2014 collection.
