Sears Lawsuit: Stanley Black & Decker Sues Over New Craftsman Tools

Sears (SHLDQ) is facing more legal woes as it is now being sued by Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) for breach of contract and trademark infringement of its Craftsman Ultimate Collection professional series mechanic tools. The Craftsman lawsuit comes shortly after Sears emerged from bankruptcy protection with a $5.2 billion deal from the company’s former chairman Eddie Lampert.

Stanley Black & Decker filed the suit in a New York federal court on Wednesday claiming Sears violated the contract agreement between the two companies, Reuters reports. Stanley Black & Decker purchased the Craftsman brand in 2017 for about $900 million.

Under the agreement for the purchase of the Craftsman brand, Stanley Black & Decker gave Sears a limited license to continue selling some tools under the brand’s name. Stanley Black & Decker alleges that Sears breached that contract by introducing the new Craftsman Ultimate Collection.

Stanley Black & Decker also claims in its suit that Sears boasted that it is “the real home of the broadest assortment of Craftsman.” According to the complaint from Stanley Black & Decker, this implies that other products produced by Craftsman and not sold through Sears are “somehow illegitimate.”

The result of the tagline, Stanley Black & Decker said, confuses consumers and harms the Craftsman brand that it currently owns, as well as its trademarks, goodwill, and customer relationships.

Shares of Sears stock were down 0.0640 percent as of 11:30 a.m. EST on Thursday. Shares of Stanely Black & Decker stock were down 1.73 percent at the same time.