Fleetwood Folding Trailers Files Lawsuit Against Coleman Over Licensing Agreement

RIVERSIDE, Calif., July 17— Fleetwood Enterprises, Inc. , the nation's leader in recreational vehicle sales and a leading producer and retailer of manufactured housing, announced today that it and its subsidiary, Fleetwood Folding Trailers, Inc., are engaged in litigation against The Coleman Company, Inc. in connection with a dispute over the use of the "Coleman" brand name. The Fleetwood folding trailer operation has licensed the Coleman brand name since 1989, when Fleetwood purchased Coleman Recreation Vehicles, Inc. from The Coleman Company.

In the latter part of 2002 Coleman raised several issues under the licensing agreement, including a different interpretation of the methodology for calculating royalties. The Fleetwood Folding Trailer division had entered into discussions with Coleman to address these concerns in good faith, but Coleman abruptly ended the discussions by letter dated May 12, 2003, when it attempted to terminate the agreement and demanded that folding trailers cease using the name. Fleetwood Enterprises and Fleetwood Folding Trailers, Inc. filed a lawsuit in Kansas state court seeking an injunction prohibiting Coleman from contracting with anyone else to license the Coleman brand for recreational vehicles. Coleman responded with a counterclaim requesting an injunction against Fleetwood. Following a three-day hearing, the Court issued an order on July 11, 2003, stating that the rights and obligations of the parties should be resolved at a trial and not by injunctive relief. As a result, Fleetwood intends to continue to pursue the matter aggressively, and expects that the trial will occur sometime in calendar year 2004.

"We have been operating in substantially the same manner since Fleetwood acquired our operation in 1989," said Larry Marsh, a 33-year Coleman folding trailer veteran, and now Fleetwood's vice president and general manager for the Somerset, Pa., operation. "We are confident that there have been no material breaches of the license agreement and we believe the court will rule in our favor. We intend to continue to manufacture Fleetwood folding trailers under the Coleman brand name while this matter is being contested."

SOURCE Fleetwood Enterprises, Inc.

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