Crocs settles clash with Walmart
Footwear company had accused retail giant of infringement | Crocs prevailed other retailers in July for selling imitation shoes.
Crocs has agreed to settle its trademark infringement suit against Walmart, which the footwear brand accused of selling look-alike plastic clogs.
Yesterday, September 19, the US District Court for the District of Colorado approved Crocs notice of dismissal.
Crocs had filed its notice of dismissal with prejudice following a settlement agreement agreed between Crocs and Walmart.
Back in July last year, Crocs accused Walmart and others (including retailers Hobby Lobby and Loeffler Randall) of infringing its trademarks, including the ‘Crocs’ name trademark and its design marks.
Walmart was accused of importing lookalike Crocs from a Hong Kong manufacturer and selling them both online and through its network of more than 4,000 retail stores in the US.
"Walmart’s accused products bear designs that are likely to cause confusion with the Crocs 3D marks. In particular, the size, positioning, number, and shape of the holes on the horizontal portion of the upper of the accused products are confusingly similar to the 3D marks,” said the suit.
In July this year, Crocs announced that it had secured a finding of infringement against USA Dawgs and Double Diamond Distribution for selling imitation Crocs shoes. As part of the finding, Crocs also obtained $6 million and $55,000 in damages, respectively, against the companies.
In relation to the finding, Daniel Hart, executive vice president and chief legal and risk officer at Crocs, said: “We are fiercely protective of the Crocs brand and our iconic DNA. We have zero tolerance for infringement of our intellectual property rights or for anyone who tries to benefit off the investments that we have made in our brand.
“This judgment not only reinforces the validity of our patent rights, it also reinforces our unrelenting determination to take forceful steps to protect our brand equity."
Did you enjoy reading this story? Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories sent like this straight to your inbox.
Today’s top stories
