One report after another came over the newswire concerning Coleman and Fleetwoods folding R.V. trailer licensing deal. First, Coleman announced they would be terminating their licensing agreement with Fleetwood on May 12th 2003. Next, Fleetwood filed suit trying to stop the termination, and Coleman filed a counter-suit.
Seems Fleetwood has a problem with a new calculation of royalties that Coleman wants to use, and Coleman says that quality control is not up to par at Fleetwood. Coleman said it is currently looking to license its name to a new R.V. company and Fleetwood says they cant.
The Kansas State Court issued a ruling on July 11 in Colemans favor, but now that ruling seems to be up for debate. It all boils down to the documents. The actual court ruling (provided by Coleman) states, “ Neither the 1989 stock sale agreement nor the 2000 licensing agreement mandate the availability of the Coleman name and trademarks to FFT FFT has not established any right allowing it to continue the use of Colemans name and trademarks.”
The 11 page document goes on to say that while FFT did not prove their complaint against Coleman, it was not for this court to decide the remedy, and that further trials are needed.
