Kinetic Sports, the former running and walking products licensee of the Etonic brand, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in early September. In June, Etonic Worldwide announced that it would be bringing its running and walking products back in-house, with Martin Keen as one of the designers. At the same time, in a case of “he said, she said” Kinetic Sports announced that they were the ones to decline the Etonic license, and not the other way around.

Tom Seeman, Etonic CEO, said that Etonic had been preparing since last year to bring the running and walking divisions in-house. “At the time of our decision we notified our licensee Kinetic Sports, allowing them ample time to phase out of the business…”

Kinetic Sports originally inked the license agreement in 2000 with Etonic’s former owner, Spalding Sports Worldwide. It is slated to end on December 31, 2005, with an inventory sell-off period running to mid-2006. The bankruptcy court filing lists 26 creditors, including Etonic Worldwide, Applied Dynamic Solutions, and several shipping companies. Kingswank Investment Solutions, out of Hong Kong, is the largest creditor, with just under $0.5 million due. Total debt is said to be between $1 million and $10 million and total assets were said to be in the same range.