Orion Marine wins appeal in copyright case vs Sealegs

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The Court of Appeal has released the injunction that Sealegs had previously won against Orion Marine that stopped Orion from making amphibious boats.

In July last year, the High Court found that former Sealegs employees had breached copyright over the design and manufacture of amphibious kits for boats.

The court granted Sealegs a permanent injunction against the defendants - Orion Marine, Darren Leybourne, Smuggler Marine Limited, Yun Zhang and David Pringle - and determined that costs and damages were also due.

Sealegs founder Maurice Bryham built and tested initial versions of his designs over a period of years starting from 2000.

Orion Marine was incorporated in 2012 to compete with Sealegs by developing amphibious leg kits for application on medium-sized runabout boats of the same size and type as those using the Sealegs amphibious system.

Sealegs alleged that Orion Marine and the other defendants infringed its copyright interests as the creator of original artistic works as expressed in three specified models of its craft, each of which are equipped with its amphibious retractable leg system.

The decision released today said the appeal had been allowed and that the High Court orders had been set aside.

In a statement, Smuggler Marine and Orion thanked boaties across the country for their support.

The directors of Smuggler Marine, David and Paulin Pringle, along with Orion manager Darren Leybourne, acknowledged the support of the NZ Marine Industry.

"The court's decision has supported our view that Orion's amphibious technology is different to anything else currently available, and this is what the case was all about," they said in a statement.

"With this now settled, we will be contacting the long list of people both in New Zealand and overseas who have been waiting for up to three years to put in their order for an amphibious Smuggler boat with an Orion system, and we will return to building amphibious boats immediately," they said.

NZX-listed Future Mobility Solutions (FMS), which owns Sealegs, said it was seeking leave to appeal to the Supreme Court.

FMS said it would make another announcement after taking legal advice.

The company's shares last traded on the NZX at 7.5c, having lost 5c or 40 per cent of their value over the last 12 months.