Bruce Kirby, Inc. v. LaserPerformance (Europe) Limited

CourtDistrict Court, D. Connecticut
DecidedJanuary 2, 2025
Docket3:13-cv-00297
StatusUnknown

This text of Bruce Kirby, Inc. v. LaserPerformance (Europe) Limited (Bruce Kirby, Inc. v. LaserPerformance (Europe) Limited) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Connecticut primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bruce Kirby, Inc. v. LaserPerformance (Europe) Limited, (D. Conn. 2025).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT

BRUCE KIRBY, INC., et al., Plaintiffs,

v. No. 3:13-cv-00297 (JAM)

LASERPERFORMANCE (EUROPE) LIMITED, et al., Defendants.

ORDER ON REMAND

Before the Court are the parties’ memoranda concerning Lanham Act damages following the Second Circuit’s limited remand. See Estate of Kirby v. LaserPerformance (Europe) Ltd., 2023 WL 5319216 (2d Cir. 2023). The plaintiffs—the Estate of Bruce Kirby and Bruce Kirby, Inc.—argue that the Court should enter judgment in their favor in the amount of nearly seven million dollars. The defendants—LaserPerformance (Europe) Limited (LPE) and Quarter Moon, Inc. (QMI)—urge the Court to decline to award profits as a measure of damages at all, and they dispute the amount and rate of post-judgment interest that the Court should award. For the reasons explained below, I will award damages under the Lanham Act in the amount of $451,094.37. I will also award post-judgment interest on this award and on previously granted awards at the appropriate, federally mandated statutory rates. See 28 U.S.C. § 1961. BACKGROUND In 1969, Bruce Kirby revolutionized sailboat racing when he designed the “Laser”—a small, compact, and incredibly popular sailboat that could be carried atop a car.1 He incorporated

1 The Court has provided more detailed accounts of this long running and complex case in its prior rulings. See, e.g., Bruce Kirby, Inc. v. LaserPerformance (Europe) Ltd., 2018 WL 3614117, at *1-3 (D. Conn. 2018); Bruce Kirby, Inc. v. LaserPerformance (Europe) Ltd., 2016 WL 4275576, at *1-2 (D. Conn. 2016). Bruce Kirby, Inc. (BKI) as the company for his boat designs. The plaintiffs then entered into an agreement, called the Head Agreement, with two international sailing organizations—the International Sailing Federation (ISAF, now known as World Sailing) and the International Laser Class Association (ILCA, an association of Laser owners and builders)—to regulate the

manufacture, sale, and registration of sailboats that use Kirby’s design. The plaintiffs also entered contracts with defendants LaserPerformance (Europe) Limited (LPE) and Quarter Moon, Inc. (QMI), called the Builder Agreements, to build the sailboats in conformity with the Head Agreement. These latter agreements granted LPE and QMI a license to manufacture, sell, and market the Laser sailboat.2 In exchange, LPE and QMI agreed to pay the plaintiffs royalties in an amount of 2% of the dealer wholesale price. Under the agreements, a builder’s failure to timely pay royalties was a condition for default.3 The Builder Agreements also required that Lasers be built according to a Construction Manual, which mandated that each Laser have two small plaques affixed in its cockpit—one known as the “ISAF Plaque” and the other known as the “Builder Plaque.”4 BKI authorized

ILCA to issue the ISAF Plaques on its behalf. Importantly, the ISAF Plaque was required for a Laser to compete in certain racing events, and it included the phrase “Authorised by the International Sailing Federation, the International Laser Class Association, Bruce Kirby Inc. & Trade Mark Owner.”5 The Builder Plaque included the phrase “Laser Sailboat Designed by Bruce Kirby.”6 For many years, the parties enjoyed smooth sailing as LPE and QMI paid the plaintiffs the royalties due from their sales of Lasers affixed with the two plaques. In 2008, however,

2 Docs. # 228-11 at 5 (1983 Agreement), #228-12 at 3 (1989 Agreement). 3 Doc. #610-3 at 4-5 (¶¶ 15, 18). 4 Id. at 6 (¶ 22); see also Doc. #600 at 110-11. 5 See Doc. #600 at 156-57; Doc.#610-3 at 5-6. 6 Doc. #610-3 at 6. Kirby decided to sell his rights in the Laser boat design, and he and his company entered a sales contract with a New Zealand company called Global Sailing Limited (GSL).7 BKI did not, however, sell the trademark to GSL, and at some point after the sale to GSL, both LPE and QMI stopped paying royalties.8

Once LPE and QMI had stopped paying royalties, Kirby tried to stop them from selling Lasers with his name on them.9 In March 2010, he sent a letter to the ILCA secretary, requesting that ILCA stop issuing plaques to QMI.10 In May 2010, the Builder Agreement with LPE was terminated.11 Then, at the end of January 2011, QMI made its last royalty payment.12 But despite these developments, both LPE and QMI continued to sell Lasers with the plaques that bore Kirby’s name. Finally, in October and again in November 2012, Kirby sent letters directly to QMI and LPE, respectively, writing that they were “no longer entitled to obtain plaques or in any manner whatsoever take any action regarding the licensed design (Kirby Sailboat).”13 The companies, undaunted, continued selling Lasers as before. In March 2013, Kirby and BKI filed this lawsuit against LPE and QMI for breach of

contract, for infringement and counterfeiting of Kirby’s trademark under the Lanham Act, for unfair trade practices under Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act, and for misappropriation of Kirby’s name.14 And on April 23, 2013, an ILCA and ISAF rule change went into effect, which eliminated the requirement for an authorized builder to have a Builder Agreement to build any

7 Doc. #600 at 118, 126-27, 140, 145-46. 8 Id. at 127. 9 Docs. #228-24, #228-25, #228-26, #228-27; see also Doc. #600 at 180:4-5 (explaining that QMI was “building boats . . . with my name and not paying royalties”); id. at 180:15-17 (explaining that Kirby wanted to stop LPE from building Lasers “with my name and not paying anybody anything”). 10 Doc. #600 at 129-30. 11 Doc. #601 at 76. 12 Doc. #600 at 203 (“[T]he last accrued royalty payment that was paid was from January 31, 2011”). 13 Docs. #610-21, #610-22. 14 See Doc. #1. Laser.15 After that rule change, neither LPE nor QMI sold Lasers with plaques that bore the Kirby name.16 Following years of pre-trial litigation, I presided over a jury trial in February 2020 on claims for trademark infringement under the Lanham Act and for common law misappropriation

of Bruce Kirby’s name. The jury returned a verdict in favor of both Kirby and BKI and awarded damages of $4,337,157.49 to BKI for trademark infringement by QMI.17 The jury also found both LPE and QMI liable to Kirby for misappropriating his name and awarded damages of $2,520,578.81 against LPE and nominal damages against QMI.18 And it further found that both defendants should be liable for punitive damages for the misappropriation claim in an amount to be determined by the Court.19 As relevant here, I awarded judgment in favor of BKI on its Lanham Act claims against QMI in the amount of $2,056,736.33. See Bruce Kirby, Inc. v. LaserPerformance (Europe) Ltd., 2021 WL 328632, at *15 (D. Conn. 2021).20 I concluded that, “especially on the basis of the evidence showing that QMI engaged in a willful trademark violation—that it is

appropriate . . . for the Court to award profits as the measure of damages.” Id. at *12.21 I explained that sufficient evidence had been presented for the jury to find that, from the period February 1, 2011 (by which time QMI had ceased paying royalties) to April 23, 2013 (when the

15 Doc. #610-3 at 7; #600 at 199-200. 16 Doc. #600 at 203-04. 17 Doc. #573 at 2. 18 Id. at 4. 19 Ibid. 20 The Court also awarded judgment in favor of Kirby against QMI and LPE for misappropriation of Kirby’s name, with a nominal damages award of $1 against QMI and a compensatory damages award of $2,520,578.81 against LPE; an award of attorneys’ fees under the Lanham Act in favor of BKI against QMI in the amount of $734,528.30; and an award of punitive damages on Kirby’s misappropriation claim in the amount of $804,179.44 against both QMI and LPE, who are jointly and severally liable for that amount. See Kirby, 2021 WL 328632, at *22. 21 See also Doc. #600 at 129-30.

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Bruce Kirby, Inc. v. LaserPerformance (Europe) Limited, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bruce-kirby-inc-v-laserperformance-europe-limited-ctd-2025.