A clothing store in Burnaby’s biggest shopping mall is part of a big lawsuit against a fitness giant.
Lululemon Athletica Canada Inc., which operates in Burnaby at Metropolis at Metrotown, has launched a lawsuit against exercise equipment company Peloton Interactive Inc., accusing the stationary bicycle and treadmill maker of patent infringement.
In documents filed in a U.S. court on Monday, the Vancouver-based athletic apparel retailer claims Peloton is infringing on multiple design patents and selling "knock-off" bras and pants.
The lawsuit comes after Peloton ended a co-branding agreement with Lululemon earlier this year and announced its own private label, Peloton Apparel, in September.
Lululemon alleges Peloton is selling "copy-cat products" that closely resemble several of the retailer's best-selling designs, including a pair of workout pants and a popular strappy sports bra.
"Unlike innovators such as Lululemon, Peloton did not spend the time, effort and expense to create an original product line," Lululemon alleged in court documents.
"Instead, Peloton imitated several of Lululemon’s innovative designs and sold knock-offs of Lululemon’s products, claiming them as its own."
The retailer said it initially sent Peloton a cease-and-desist letter, laying out its concerns with the exercise equipment maker's "blatant misappropriation" of Lululemon's product designs, according to court documents.
Lululemon said Peloton requested an extension to respond to those allegations, but then used the delay to "secretly prepare its own complaint and pre-empt the lawsuit that Lululemon had so clearly threatened."
Lululemon was also in court over another issue recently.
A Vancouver woman has had her case against yoga pants retailer Lululemon dismissed by a human rights tribunal after she tried to use a note from a naturopathic doctor to excuse her from wearing a mask in a store.
The case dates back to November 10, 2020 when Yvonne Coelho and a friend went to a Lululemon store without a face mask on, according to the tribunal's decision. Lululemon had a rule that everyone in their stores had to wear a mask and staff told Coelho she couldn't be there without a mask.
"Essentially, Ms. Coelho is seeking her perfect accommodation – to shop freely in‐person at Lululemon’s stores without having to wear a mask, at a time when the Province had declared a State of Emergency over a respiratory virus about which little was yet known," states the tribunal chair Emily Ohler in her decision.
Coelho's reason for not wearing a mask was an apparent medical exemption. She cited a note from her naturopathic doctor claiming masks cause her increased stress and risk of panic attack.
- With files from the Canadian Press and Jeremy Hainsworth, Glacier Media
