Although there were no incidents in the U.S. of the jackets malfunctioning, there were separate reports in Europe and Canada of the wires shorting out and melting the wristcuffs. No injuries were reported in either incident.
Columbia Sportswear's heated jackets have come under fire since they were launched in 2011. In August 2012, Innovative Sports filed a lawsuit against the company, claiming it used heated jacket designs from Innovative Sports without authorization. That lawsuit was dismissed in April 2013. In an incident unrelated to the Fibretronic Limited issue, Columbia Sportswear issued a recall for some of its heated jackets in November 2011, and reissued that recall in January 2013, after it was found that the items had defects related to their the battery packs.