Jury Finds Utility Patent Covering SEA-DOO® SEASCOOTER™ to Be Valid and Willfully Infringed
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Sport Dimension, Inc., dba Body Glove Company, a distributor of high-quality water sports equipment, announced today that on November 8, 2013, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California awarded damages to its manufacturer, Hydrodynamic Industrial Co. Ltd. ("Hydrodynamic") in a patent infringement case against Green Max Distributors, Inc. ("Green Max"), a Washington corporation.
Hydrodynamic owns the '385 patent and filed suit against Green Max on June 6, 2012 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (Case no. 12cv5058). After 4 days of jury trial, the jury found that Green Max willfully infringed U.S. Patent No. 6,848,385 ("the '385 patent"), which covers the popular SEA-DOO® SEASCOOTER™ sold by Sport Dimension, and that the patent was valid. The jury also found that Green Max willfully infringed Hydrodynamic's copyrighted user manual.
Hydrodynamic's General Manager Anthony Leung commented that, "Green Max has been selling infringing sea scooters online, including on Amazon.com. We had no choice but to sue when they ignored our requests to stop the infringing sales." Sport Dimension's CEO, Joseph Lin, said, "We are pleased that the jury has sent such a strong message that it's not acceptable to ignore the intellectual property rights of others."
Hydrodynamic's trial attorney, Yuri Mikulka, Chair of Intellectual Property Practice Group of Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth, said, "The jury found that Green Max not only infringed Hydrodynamic's patent, but did so willfully. This means that under federal law, Hydrodynamic may seek treble damages and attorneys' fees from Green Max." Judge Otis Wright who presided over this case will make that determination along with other matters of law.
Sport Dimension designs and produces innovative, quality sports equipment for brands such as Body Glove, Maui & Sons, Speedo, Yamaha, Jet Pilot and others, including the SEA-DOO® SEASCOOTER™. Sport Dimension's products date back to the early 1950's and its team has worked with pioneers of surfing and scuba diving, providing the company with solid foundation and depth of knowledge in the water and snow sports industry.
Hydrodynamic manufactures products for Sport Dimension and makes a wide variety of water sports products including the SEA-DOO® SEASCOOTER™. Hydrodynamic is one of the world's leading Neoprene and Nylon Product Manufacturers and the world's largest manufacturer of, and one of only a few certified and approved makers of, life vests and personal flotation devices.
For more information or questions, please contact Joseph Lin at Sport Dimension Inc., at 1-800-678-7873 or Email.