ITC to investigate Crocs infringement claims
The US International Trade Commission (ITC) will launch an investigation into almost two dozen companies for allegedly infringing on trademarked shoe designs owned by Crocs.
Crocs’ complaint accuses 23 companies, including Skechers and US-based arts and crafts store Hobby Lobby, of infringing on three of its trademarks.
The three trademark registrations mentioned in the complaint are US 5,149,328, 5,273,875, and 3,836,415, which cover the three-dimensional shoe design and the word mark for “CROCS”.
Crocs is seeking a general (or limited) exclusion order and cease and desist order against the companies.
A general exclusion order would prevent any infringing products from being imported or sold in the US, whereas a limited order would only be levied at the named companies.
After several amendments to the initial complaint filed on June 8, The ITC agreed to launch an investigation, publishing a notice of institution on July 6, 2021.
The complaint, along with 135 different exhibits, was submitted to the ITC by Arnold and Porter.
Crocs litigation
The clog maker has previously defended its IP across US courts. Last year saw an ongoing patent infringement dispute between Crocs and Mojave/USA Dawgs make its way to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Mojave’s successor USA Dawgs was given the go-ahead to appeal a PTAB decision and granted an inter partes review of the Croc’ design patent D517,789. Crocs successfully defended the validity of the patent.
According to this week’s ITC complaint, Crocs defence efforts have resulted in the termination of more than 70.000 online auctions for infringing products and has shut down more than 1,500 websites in the US.
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