Vans blocks sale of ‘Wavy Baby’ sneakers
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.
The footwear company claimed that MSCHF had released limited-edition sneakers that infringe trademarks and trade dress for one of its “iconic” shoe lines, the Vans “Old Skool”.
In an order handed down Friday, April 29, the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York granted Van's request for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction.
Vans asserted six claims for trademark infringement, unfair competition, trademark dilution, and unfair trade practices and asked the court to issue a restraining order and preliminary injunction barring the collective from developing and selling its limited sneaker line.
MSCHF developed the “Wavy Baby” shoes alongside American rapper Tyga and marketed a limited line of 4,306 of the shoes.
In its initial complaint, submitted on April 14, Vans claims that the “Wavy Baby” shoes were developed to “piggy-back” on Vans' established rights and goodwill, claiming that they “blatantly and unmistakable” copied elements of its trade dress and trademarks.
Specifically, Vans asserted that the “Wavy Baby” shoes infringe its “jazz stripe” trademark, the “Flying-V mark”, its “off the wall” slogan, its “waffle sole”, and the Vans footbed logo, as well as trade dress for the Old Skool shoes, the Vans footbed logo and its shoebox trade dress.
Vans' motion for injunctive relief was also supported by an amicus brief from Harvard law professor Rebecca Tushnet.
The court ruled that Vans successfully demonstrated actual consumer confusion, noting that multiple sources had commented on the similarity between the two shoes and “misunderstood” the “Wavy Baby” shoes as a collaboration between the two companies.
It also held that there was a likelihood of irreparable harm in selling the limited sneakers. Despite assurances from MSCHF that it would “not develop, promote or advertise” the shoe during litigation, the court noted that it failed to make any statement that it will not continue to produce the shoe.
As a result, MSCHF is now prohibited from fulfilling orders for the “Wavy Baby” shoes and will have to cancel orders for the shoes that have been placed.
MSCHF has filed a motion to appeal the order to the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
This lawsuit marks the second time in a year that a limited run of MSCHF sneakers has been blocked by the New York court.
In April last year, the court blocked MSCHF from selling its “Satan Shoes”—a line of custom Nike Air Max 97s developed in collaboration with rapper Lil Nas X and released alongside his music video “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name).
Nike and MSCHF later settled the dispute out of court, with MSCHF launching a voluntary recall of the shoes, as well as a prior line of its custom Nike “Jesus Shoes”.
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