K-Swiss filed
a trademark declaratory judgment lawsuit, at the Federal District Court in Los Angeles, against Puma over an infringement charge.
The lawsuit follows a suit by Puma on May 4 in the U.S. District Court for the
District of Massachusetts that accused K-Swiss of selling sneakers featuring a
pattern that closely resembles Puma's trademarked “Formstrip” design, a stripe
running along the side of a pair.

 

K-Swiss
recently began selling its “Dolton” shoe,
which features a strip running along the eyelets and extending to the sole of
the shoe. In March of 2009, Puma sent a letter accusing K-Swiss’s Dolton shoe
design of infringing Puma’s “Formstrip Trademarks,” specifically USPTO
Registration Nos. 3369752, 1135790, and 1256945, and subsequently filed its lawsuit. .

 

According
to its complaint, K-Swiss alleges that the lawsuit is retaliatory in nature and
in bad faith. K-Swiss states in its complaint, “K-Swiss avers that
K-Swiss’ use of the Eyelet Strip is non-infringing, that K-Swiss’ use of the Eyelet
Strip is dissimilar in shape and placement to Puma AG’s claimed Formstrip
trademarks, that the Eyelet Strip is functional, that KSwiss’ use of the Eyelet
Strip as an integral part of the lacing system for its footwear is a fair use,
and that K-Swiss’ use of the Eyelet Strip does not create a likelihood of
consumer confusion within the relevant purchasing public as to the source of
the parties’ footwear.”