Court Rules For Seirus Innovation in Patent Dispute With Columbia Sportswear

Certain utility patent claims made by Columbia Sportswear Co. against Seirus Innovative Accessories Inc. were upheld as invalid by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the accessories brand announced Monday.

The ruling on three key issues was handed down on November 13, 2019, resulting in a victory for Seirus and wiping out a $3 million judgment against Seirus for allegedly infringing Columbia’s design patent on all of its HW products.

The law firm Fish & Richardson, which represents Seirus in its ongoing litigation with Columbia Sportwear, represented Seirus before the Federal Circuit Court. The court’s ruling in Columbia Sportswear North America, Inc. v. Seirus Innovative Accessories, Inc., 942 F.3d 1119 (Fed. Cir. 2019) “affirmed that Columbia’s asserted utility patent claims are invalid, vacated the district court’s summary judgment order that Seirus infringed Columbia’s design patent,” Seirus said in a press release.

“When a small company like ours goes up against an industry giant and prevails, it’s not only gratifying, it reinforces that a fair, competitive business environment can and should exist,” said Michael Carey, president and CEO of Seirus Innovation. “Seirus has observed that Columbia litigates aggressively against smaller competitors but tends to ignore larger companies that can fight back. Unlike other small companies, Seirus was able to withstand the relentless financial pressure put upon it by Columbia and is proud that its efforts and sacrifices were not made in vain.”

According to the press release, “The case involves patents that relate to the material used by Columbia in jacket linings under the name Omni-Heat. Columbia sued Seirus alleging that material used by Seirus in glove linings under the name HeatWave infringed Columbia’s design patent and a utility patent, U.S. Patent No. 8,453,270. In November 2017, after a 13-day trial, a San Diego, CA jury found Columbia’s asserted utility patent claims covering its Omni-Heat technology invalid.”

Photo courtesy U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit