Cobalt Boats LLC says Sea Ray Boats has infringed on their patent for the submersible swim step and is taking legal action.
Filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, their complaint says Sea Ray’s manufacture, use, and sale of boats including a submersible swim step violates Cobalt’s U.S. Patent No. 8,375,880 (issued in 2013). Cobalt says that this “reckless” patent infringement is negatively affecting their sales.
The complaint says, “As a result of Sea Ray’s willful infringement of the ‘880’ patent, Cobalt has lost sales to Sea Ray and has been and continues to be damaged by Sea Ray’s infringing conduct,” as obtained by Trade Only Today.
Now Cobalt Boats is pursuing a permanent injunction to prevent the future sell of boats with the swim step feature, as well as compensation for any damages and attorneys' fees.
Cobalt Boats CEO Paxson St. Clair stated, “We are very proud of our innovative products and intend to protect our patent rights.”
The complaint also says that the swim step feature has been “a huge success for Cobalt” since its introduction to the market. According to the complaint, Sea Ray began promoting and selling boats last year with a swim step that “appears to copy Cobalt’s” on the 220, 240, 270, and 290 Sea Ray Sundecks.
Daniel Kubera, a spokesman for Bruswick Corp., Sea Ray’s parent company, told Trade Only Today that company policy prohibits commenting on pending litigation.
To view Trade Only Today’s full story, click here.
To view Cobalt's flip-down swim step as featured on their website, click here.
