Everyone knows what Crocs look like - even if you hate them as an abomination of fashion (as I do), they are so prevalant that virtually anyone who goes out in public will have seen them by now.
Anything successful produces imitations. That is the nature of business. Depending ont he type of imitation and the nature of the rights obtained by the producer of the original product, legal disputes can arise.
Well, it seems that Holey Soles has produced a shoe that Crocs asserts is so close in design to Crocs shoes that consumers will be fooled into thinking shoes produced by the former originate from the latter.
And so they fight...
In a recent round, Holey tried to have Crocs lawsuit thrown out because it said Crocs had no legal basis for suing it. Crocs had alleged violations under the Trade-marks Act (what is called a distinguishing guise, or "trade dress" in the USA - think the shape of the old Coke bottle) and under the Copyright Act (claiming the shape of the shoe or some part of it is artistic in nature and subject to copyright).
The court shut Holey Soles down, stating that the issues needed to be examined at a full blown trial, rather than in a summary fashion.
It remains to be seen how all of this will play itself out, especially given the collapse of the Crocs market and, with it, Crocs share price.
What remains is yet another warning to companies that want to re-produce something known and successful - prepare in advance and make sure you have solid footing before you embark on such a course of action, least you get embroiled in a time consuming and expensive lawsuit.
I have been pretty much out of the fashion loop since caring for my mom who is pretty much a shut-in. Last December while strolling a south Florida beach I saw some shoes that would look comfortable on my rheumatoid arthritis feet. They were $5.99 or 2 pairs for $10. They were painted with flowers and I thought ugly, but I just wanted to be able to walk. I only bought one pair. They were so comfortable I am sorry I didn't buy two, but I wanted to be sure they would work for me. Ironically, strangers would ask me if they were Crocs which at the time I didn't even know what Crocs were. I even received compliments on them. Then when I visited our daughter in PA who owned a genuine pair of Crocs, I compared them. Mine were just like hers except for the retro flowers on mine and hers were just one color. I later returned to the beach to purchase a second pair and they were nowhere to be found. I have looked everywhere to no avail. Maybe these were too close to the real thing and they were pulled from sales. Mine have a seahorse motif on the side and letters like KRC on the bottom that almost look like a Russian alphabet. All other kncokoffs I've tried on are stiffer and hurt my feet.
Posted by: Sue | 26 July 2008 at 03:35 PM