New Rise Brand Holdings settles its lawsuit against Iconix Brand Group that accused Iconix of fraud and improperly terminating New Rise’s license for the Ecko Unlimited trademark, Iconix said in a 10K.

New Rise, along with Sichuan New Rise Import & Export Co., which signed a licensing agreement with Iconix in 2010 and filed suit in April 2016, had sought at least $15 million in damages and $50 million in punitive damages, legal fees and costs, Iconix said. The settlement was reached in March.

Many of the allegations stemmed from a separate complaint filed against Iconix by former licensee Marcraft Apparel Group and its CEO Seth Gerszberg.  That suit claimed former Iconix CEO Neil Cole failed to “promote, protect and preserve” the Ecko brand in a successful bid to bankrupt Gerszberg, the former business partner of the brand’s founder Marc Ecko and whose Marcraft was the label’s largest licensee.

Marcraft’s suit, filed in 2015, alleged Cole “purposely degraded” the brand in a dispute with Gerszberg over the direction of Ecko, but hid the damage from other licensees so they would renew their agreements. Iconix in 2009 purchased 51% of Ecko Unlimited, whose sales peaked the same year at about $1B. Iconix bought the remainder of the Ecko in 2013.

Contact:

Iconix Brand Group, John McClain, CFO, 212-73o-0030