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16 November 2021TrademarksMuireann Bolger

Vans accuses Walmart of ‘knock-off campaign’

Walmart is facing a trademark infringement lawsuit after footwear brand Vans accused the retailer of ripping off the designs of more than 20 pairs of shoes.

Vans filed the complaint at the US District Court for the Central District of California on Monday, November 15.

The California-based footwear company is also suing Walmart suppliers, The Doll Maker and Trendy Trading.

According to the complaint, Vans has become an iconic brand worldwide, known for its original, authentic, and distinctive shoes that embody Southern California counterculture.

Vans’ core product lines include its ‘Old Skool’ shoes, ‘SK8-HI’ shoes, and ‘Checkerboard Slip-On’ shoes, and have been worn by celebrities including Kanye West, Rihanna and Justin Bieber.

In the complaint, Vans accused Walmart of embarking on an “escalating campaign to knock off virtually all of Vans’ best selling shoes”, and that the retailer shamelessly sold copycat shoes “in a direct effort to confuse consumers, unlawfully siphon sales from Vans, and intentionally damage Vans’ valuable IP rights”.

Vans further alleged that this alleged “copying of Vans’ shoes is not subtle or inadvertent,  and that Walmart “had willfully infringing Vans’ trademark and trade dress rights”.

In taking these actions, the retail giant had “flooded the market with cheap, low-quality, and confusingly similar shoes that harm Vans’ goodwill and reputation”, the complaint said.

The complaint holds that in March 2021, Vans’ reached out to Walmart to address the matter, but that the retailer refused to address any of Vans’ concerns and defiantly continued selling the copycat shoes up to the present.

“Worse yet, in the months after receiving Vans’ letter, Walmart introduced an avalanche of additional knockoff shoes,” the filing added.

According to Vans, the enduring popularity of its footwear is reflected in its sales and revenue.

The filing noted that in November 2011, Vans surpassed $1 billion in annual global sales for the first time in its history, while becoming the largest single action sports brand in the world and by  2014, Vans’ annual global sales had surpassed $2 billion.

In response to the suit, a spokesperson for Walmart told WIPR: “We respect the IP rights of others and take these allegations seriously. We will review the complaint once we have been served with it and will respond as appropriate with the court.”

The case is Vans v Walmart, US District Court for the Central District of California, no. 8:21-cv-01876.

WIPR has contacted Vans for comment.

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20 December 2018   Skateboarding shoe maker Vans has filed a trademark infringement suit against Primark for selling what it describes as “calculated and intentional knock-offs” of its famous Old Skool and Sk8-Hi shoes.
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26 January 2022   Walmart has asked a California court to deny shoemaker Vans’ request to block sales of the supermarket giant’s own-brand shoes that it claims infringes its designs.
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3 May 2022   Vans can pursue a temporary restraining order against New York-based art collective MSCHF to prevent them from selling a custom line of “Wavy Baby” trainers, a district court has ruled.