Diesel and American Eagle targeted at US ITC
Jean brands including Diesel, American Eagle, Levi Strauss and Abercrombie & Fitch are under fire after a company claiming the rights to patented technology announced it was seeking an exclusion order.
Ohio-based laser technology business RevoLaze has filed a request for a section 337 investigation at the US International Trade Commission against 17 companies.
If an investigation is granted and it finds in RevoLaze’s favour, the companies could be faced with an exclusion order banning their products from being imported into the US.
The 17 companies are: Abercrombie & Fitch, American Eagle Outfitters, BlankNYC, The Buckle, Buffalo David Bitton, Diesel, Eddie Bauer LLC, Gap, Guess?, H&M, Roberto Cavalli, Koos Manufacturing, Big Star, Levi Strauss, Lucky Brand Dungarees, Fashion Box and VF Corp.
According to RevoLaze, it holds 29 worldwide patents for laser scribing methods to make graphics and patterns on clothes.
Among RevoLaze's IP is a disclosure of the use of laser technology for denim, including a new process used to create the worn or faded look.
The original technique for this, known as “sandblasting”, is found to be associated with a lung disease called silicosis, RevoLaze said.
“RevoLaze, through the use of its laser systems, can offer its patented laser abrading technology to solve this catastrophic health problem,” RevoLaze’s chief executive Darryl Costin said in a statement.
However, Costin added that it suspected companies had been using its patented technology without license.
"There are companies out there who looked at our technology in the past, and are now selling jeans manufactured with the laser abrasion processes. We're asking the ITC to provide us protection," he said.
Once a complaint is filed, the ITC has 30 days to determine whether an investigation should be carried out.
Investigations are usually completed in about 15 months.
“If the ITC agrees that imports have violated RevoLaze's patents, an exclusion order will be issued to US Customs and Border Protection excluding those products from the US,” Costin said.
The complaint follows the filing of 17 lawsuits at the US District Court for the Northern District of Ohio in Cleveland on Friday (August 15), naming the same companies and asserting patent infringement.
Last week, WIPR reported that another company, Icon Laser Solution, had filed three lawsuits in Texas accusing Levi Strauss, VF Corp and Gap of patent infringement also related to laser technology used in jean making.
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