In May, 2008 Walt Disney’s ESPN sued Quiksilver for copyright infringement on the use of the letter “X” in Quik’s Generation X line of clothing.
Then a month later Quiksilver sued ESPN saying they had been using the X since 1994 (two years before ESPN began using the letter for its X Games).
Now a federal judge in New York has ruled that ESPN must face allegations.
The emblem for ESPN’s extreme-sports franchise is “strikingly similar” to the stylized X used by Quiksilver in the Gen X line of clothing, U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon said in a Friday ruling in New York. . . “Quiksilver thoroughly laid out its long history of many types of X usage,” McMahon said, rejecting ESPN’s bid to dismiss the claims. “Quiksilver has also adequately pled that ESPN’s use of the X mark is likely to cause consumer confusion.”
We kind of hope Quiksilver makes the mouse pay through the nose. They could use some cash right now.
[Link: Los Angeles Times]
