A Utah judge this week entered judgment in favor of Westcomb in a lawsuit filed Feb. 2, 2007, against the Vancouver-based apparel brand by one of its industry competitors, Arc’Teryx.


Arc’Teryx’s claim, which sought at least $150,000 in damages from the four-year-old Westcomb, was dismissed after the judge found that a zipper design created by Westcomb was entirely different from and did not infringe upon a design patented by Arc’Teryx, as asserted in the suit.


The judge stated that “no reasonable jury could find that an ordinary observer … would be deceived into confusing the design of defendant’s … jacket with [Arc’Teryx’s] patent.”


Said Westcomb founder Alan Yiu: “This ruling validates what we’ve said since the start of this whole thing – that Westcomb’s designs are uniquely ours. Now we can get back to pushing the boundaries in outdoor apparel, and putting our resources into developing category-defining products instead of into legal-defense fees.”