Oakley settles patent lawsuit

Optrafair 05 exhibitors Kaenon Polarized and Oakley have mutually agreed to settle a patent infringement lawsuit filed by the latter in a federal court in California.

Since Steve Rosenberg left Oakley to establish Kaenon, it has won a variety of awards for its designs and performance. It appeared for the first time in the UK at Optrafair in April.

Oakley claimed that five Kaenon models infringed three of its 'XYZ' optic patents regarding the minimisation of prismatic distortion throughout the lens. Kaenon denied the allegations.

In a statement from Oakley, Kaenon acknowledged the 'innovative technology' used by Oakley in its correction of prismatic distortion, and agreed that it would not infringe Oakley's patent claims in future. No comment was available directly from Kaenon.

Oakley has a history of vigorously defending its patents, having previously filed and settled infringement lawsuits against Nike and Luxottica.