The Daily - January 31, 2020 - 70

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T H E

F L O O R

Mike Carey,
CEO of Seirus
Innovation

Seirus Wins
Legal Battle

Courts drop giant outdoor brand
Columbia's patent lawsuit against
Seirus. By Jenn Fields
After years of litigation, Seirus was
handed a final victory in a patent
battle with Columbia Sportswear
over the glove and accessory maker's HeatWave lining.
What began as an allegation of
patent infringement from Columbia over its Omni-Heat lining
in 2013 grew into a protracted
legal fight that included a trial in
2017. The jury found that patent
infringement on Seirus' part was
unwillful, although the court still
awarded $3 million in damages to
Columbia at that time. In November 2019, a ruling from the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the Federal
Circuit's Southern District of
California Court killed Columbia's

case against Seirus-including the
damages owed.
Michael Carey, president and
CEO of Seirus Innovation, called
it a big win in a David-versus-Goliath situation in an interview at
Seirus' booth on Day 1 of the Show.
"David doesn't win most of the
time," said Carey, who started the
company in 1984, and it's still a
family-run business today. The legal battle has taken a toll, he said.
"The legal system is really slanted
toward deep pockets. We were
lucky enough that we had reserves
that we could sustain
the onslaught."
Columbia did not respond to an
inquiry about the case from The

/ OUTDOOR + SNOW SHOW 2020

Daily ahead of press time.
Seirus viewed HeatWave as
a combination of two products.
"We didn't believe it was patentable when we first came out with

it," Carey said. Columbia viewed
things differently, and still does:
Last year, it filed a separate but
related suit against Seirus that
accuses the company's executives
of alleged racketeering. Columbia will seek $20 million in
damages in the U.S. District
Court in Oregon.
For now, Seirus is savoring its
win in the U.S. Court of Appeals,
and Carey seemed glad for a
breather. "I think there was probably a lot of reservation from some
of our dealers [that went] unspoken," Carey said. "Because no
one wants to get involved when
there's some kind of litigation."
At the Show, those dealers can
see and order a new product from
Seirus that uses the technology at
the center of the patent suit: The
company is showing two styles of
its shiny new HeatWave baselayers
for fall 2020.

YOU HAVE 8 SECONDS

Marketing panel talks about ways to keep customers engaged
"The average American looks at their phone 80 times a day, and
is exposed to 5,000 ads," moderator Steven Stoker of Backbone
Media said at the beginning of the "Sponsored Content: Exploring the Grey Area Between Brands, Publishers, Readers, Affiliate
Links, and Your Attention Span" panel held on Day 1.
The conversation brought together four players with different
perspectives on the industry: Kim Beekman of Backbone Media
shared her experience creating content and executing its implementation for a project with Ski Canada. Patrick Crawford of
Inkwell Media and Josh Harms of Visit Estes Park talked about the
development of the Estes Park Athlete-in-Residence program,
which brings well-known adventurers and athletes like Caroline
Gleich, Anton Krupika, and Joey Schusler to the area to highlight
a variety of trails and activities. Jason Blevins of the Colorado Sun,
a regional online news outlet, addressed concerns publications
have about promoting sponsored content to their readers, stating
that one of the largest problems plaguing the ever-shifting media
landscape revolves around keeping the reader's trust. The next
major barrier in marketing, panelists said: new laws about protecting consumers' data privacy while keeping engagement rates
high. -Latria Graham

L AU R E N DA N I L E K

F R O M

The Daily - January 31, 2020

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