US District Court Rules Against Kirby

(December 14, 2016) – Dinghy manufacturer LaserPerformance has released a statement announcing that the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut has dismissed complaints and allegations by Bruce Kirby and Bruce Kirby Inc. against LaserPerformance and the International Laser Class Association.

Full statement:
The complaint filed by these plaintiffs alleged that the defendants were involved in a scheme not to pay royalties to Bruce Kirby and Bruce Kirby Inc., and illegally allowed the manufacturing of Laser sailboats by LaserPerformance.

On August 12, 2016, the Court order confirmed that Mr. Kirby and Bruce Kirby, Inc. had no basis to sue LaserPerformance and denied and dismissed all such claims in entirety.

The Court order also emphasizes that Bruce Kirby has sold his interests to Global Sailing Limited of Australia. Global Sailing Limited is a group company and affiliate of Performance Sailcraft Australia, the Builder of Laser boats in Australia.

The decision can be found here.

In its defense counterclaims against the plaintiffs, LaserPerformance sought to recover overpayments of royalties made by LaserPerformance to Bruce Kirby and Bruce Kirby Inc. over the years. This overpayment came to light in an accounting audit in preparation for the litigation initiated by Bruce Kirby.

The Court order of August 2016 allowed LaserPerformance to pursue such claims for overpayments against Bruce Kirby, Kirby Inc. and Global Sailing.

LaserPerformance will pursue its claims for overpayment of royalties with equal determination and will also focus its attention and resources to related infringements of its intellectual property rights by these parties and their affiliates. LaserPerformance has requested a trial date for its remaining claims by way of a motion filed on 12 December 2016.

For over three years LaserPerformance vigorously fought these false allegations at great expense to the company, its reputation and the sailing community it serves.

There is no victory in any litigation but LaserPerformance is pleased that it stands vindicated in pursuing the spurious and fraudulent claims made against it by Bruce Kirby, Kirby Inc. and Global Sailing of Australia.

Hopefully it now paves the road for us to supporting the sailing community around the world without further distraction and waste of resources.

Source: LaserPerformance