February, 20th, 2020

Categories: Blog, News Tags: litigation, trademark, whipgroup

February 2020 saw the culmination of a 7-year long Federal Court litigation between WHIPgroup client Bruce Kirby, designer of the famed Laser Sailboat, and builders of the Laser, Quarter Moon, Incorporated (“QMI”) and LaserPerformance (Europe) Limited (“LPE”). Kirby’s claims were resolved by a jury of his peers in New Haven, Connecticut, who unanimously determined (1) QMI willfully infringed Kirby’s BRUCE KIRBY trademark and (2) both QMI and LPE illegally misappropriated Kirby’s name for commercial benefit. The jury determined QMI’s unjust enrichment to be $4,337,157 and LPE’s to be $2,520,578. The jury also awarded punitive damages in an amount to be determined by the Court. A copy of the jury’s verdict form is linked below.

The jury’s verdict is long-awaited justice for Kirby, who has been seeking accountability for the Defendants’ illegal acts for years. WHIPgroup never gave up on Kirby’s claims and was eager to take the case to trial to prove Defendants’ bad faith in using Kirby’s trademark and name without authorization.