Lululemon escalates dispute with Peloton over apparel design patents
Peloton Interactive is facing a counter suit from Lululemon Athletica after it sued the apparel maker over claims that it infringed design patents and trade dress.
Lululemon Athletic filed the suit at the US District Court for the District of California yesterday, November 29, accusing the exercise bike manufacturer of infringement and of bad faith dealings.
This move is the latest development in a dispute between the two companies that has emerged after the termination of a five year co-branding agreement and Peloton’s launch of its own clothing line.
In early November, Peloton allegedly received a cease-and-desist letter from Lululemon’s outside counsel, prompting the fitness bike manufacturer to launch a retaliatory suit on Wednesday, November 24.
According to this latest complaint by the Canada-based company, Peloton pursued a wholesale co-branding relationship with Lululemon in 2016 and under the terms of this relationship, Lululemon supplied Peloton with some of its most popular athletic apparel.
Peloton applied its own trademarks to the apparel, alongside Lululemon’s logo, and re-sold the co-branded apparel through Peloton’s retail outlets, including Peloton showrooms and the Peloton website.
But earlier this year, Peloton requested to end the co-branding agreement, and Lululemon stopped supplying Peloton with its merchandise.
Lululemon has now accused its former business partners of ripping off its designs in its recently launched clothing line, holding that: “Peloton did not spend the time, effort, and expense to create an original product line. Instead, Peloton imitated several of lululemon’s innovative designs and sold knock-offs of Lululemon’s products, claiming them as its own.”
These include Peloton’s ‘strappy bra’, ‘cadent laser dot legging’, ‘cadent laser dot bra’, ‘high neck bra’, and ‘cadent peak bra’, which collectively infringe six different lululemon patents, said the complaint.
The athletic clothing company also insisted that Peloton’s ‘one lux tight’ is another imitation of a Lululemon product as it copies the trade dress of Lululemon’s ‘align’ pant, one of the brand’s best-selling products.
Lululemon also contended that Peloton had not acted in good faith when it requested more time to substantively respond to lululemon’s cease and desist letter.
“In requesting the extension, Peloton gave Lululemon the false impression that it needed and would use the additional time to properly respond to Lululemon’s substantive allegations.
“Instead, Peloton used the delay to secretly prepare its own complaint and preempt the lawsuit that Lululemon had so clearly threatened in its letter,” argued the company.
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