Cari Gundee rides her Peloton exercise bike at her home on April 06, 2020 in San Anselmo, California.
Ezra Shaw | Getty Images
Peloton has sued Lululemon after the leggings maker threatened legal action against the connected fitness equipment company earlier this year.
The suit, filed in Manhattan federal court on Wednesday, comes just a few weeks after Peloton rolled out a massive marketing blitz behind its own apparel line. The company has slowly phased out of selling apparel labels on its website, such as Nike and Lululemon, and instead has leaned into manufacturing its own leggings, sports bras and workout tanks for women and men.
Earlier this month, Lululemon’s lawyers sent a note to Peloton saying the company would sue unless Peloton stopped selling its new clothes. The yoga pants maker argued that Peloton’s strappy bra, high neck bra, cadent peak bra, cadent laser dot bra and cadent laser dot leggings infringed on Lululemon’s patent designs.
Peloton has said, however, that its own merchandise is easy to decipher from Lululemon’s. It also said Lululemon’s clothing designs are too “obvious” to merit patent protection.
“On top of the numerous clear and obvious differences in design, Peloton and Lululemon’s brands and logos are also distinctive and well-recognized, making confusion between products a virtual impossibility,” Peloton said in the lawsuit.
Peloton is asking for a court declaration that it has not infringed on any patents.
A Lululemon spokesperson said the retailer has requested that Peloton cease and desist selling a number of products.
“We will defend our proprietary rights, to protect the integrity of our brand, and to safeguard our intellectual property,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
Peloton shares rose nearly 6% on Friday, as concerns around a new coronavirus variant sent stocks that have benefited from stay-at-home trends higher. Lululemon’s stock was up less than 1%.
