Oakley Alleges Infringement in Lawsuit
Oakley Inc., the second-largest U.S. maker of sunglasses, said Wednesday it sued market leader Bausch & Lomb Inc., alleging some of its glasses infringe on Oakley patents.
Foothill Ranch-based Oakley said Rochester, N.Y.-based Bausch & Lomb’s Revo, Killer and Arnette-style glasses infringe on Oakley’s patents for its XYZ Optics lens and its iridium lens-coating technology.
The suit, filed in a federal court in California, is another salvo in Oakley’s legal campaign to protect its share of the annual $1.5-billion U.S. market for sunglasses, analysts said.
Last year, Oakley sued Nike Inc., claiming its sunglasses violated the XYZ Optics patent. The case is set for trial in a federal court in California in December.
“Product development at Oakley is based upon innovation, and our creations must be carefully guarded,” said Jim Jannard, Oakley’s chairman and chief executive, in a statement. “We will continue to take legal actions to defend ourselves against those who use our inventions without permission.”
Last year, Arnette Optical Illusions, which is owned by Bausch & Lomb, agreed to a pay $750,000 to settle a suit by Oakley, which accused Arnette of swiping one of Jannard’s designs.
Greg Arnette, who admitted no wrongdoing in settling the case, had worked for Oakley from 1985 until 1991, when he left and formed his own company in San Clemente.
That dispute involved the Steel Raven design, which Arnette began marketing in 1991. The lawsuit contended that Jannard crafted the design in the spring of 1991 and that Arnette took it with him when he left.
Two other United States lawsuits have been resolved in recent years involving Oakley and Bausch & Lomb, a 1991 case involving Oakley’s cylindrical lens patent and a 1994 case concerning Oakley’s interchangeable component part and indented lens patents, Oakley attorney Greg Weeks said. Those lawsuits involved different models of Bausch & Lomb’s Killer Loop sunglasses.
In both cases, Weeks said, the court “validated and agreed to the enforceability” of Oakley’s patents.
In addition, the two sunglass giants have fought several legal battles in Europe over patent and trademark rights.
Bausch & Lomb has as much as 40% of the U.S. sunglasses market, while Oakley has about 15%, said Mark Miller, an analyst at Merrill Lynch & Co. Oakley had 1997 revenue of $194 million.
The XYZ Optics lens is designed to cut image distortion and enhance peripheral vision while protecting eyes from wind and sun, the company said. The iridium lens coating provides sun protection while blocking glare.
Representatives of Bausch & Lomb, maker of popular Ray-Ban sunglasses, said they hadn’t received a copy of the suit and wouldn’t comment.
“It is Bausch & Lomb’s long-standing policy not to infringe on the valid patents of competitors,” said company spokeswoman Holly Echols.
*
Bloomberg News and Times correspondent Leslie Earnest contributed to this report.
