Judgments bite Crocs knock-off products

BROOMFIELD — After the better part of two decades, Crocs Inc.’s (Nasdaq: CROX) fight against two competitors that manufactured knock-off versions of the company’s iconic clogs is over, and Crocs is victorious.

In a regulatory filing this week, the Broomfield-based casual footwear company revealed that it has obtained judgments against USA Dawgs Inc. and Double Diamond Distribution Ltd. of $6 million and $55,000, respectively.

The patent infringement case was first brought by Crocs in 2006 and has since kicked around between the U.S. International Trade Commission, U.S. District Courts and appellate bodies. 

“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,” Crocs chief legal officer Daniel Hart said in a prepared statement. “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.” 

While company leaders are expressing satisfaction with the result of the USA Dawgs and Double Diamond cases, Crocs has a slew of additional patent-infringement cases still in various stages of litigation. 

Last June — coincidentally, exactly one year prior to Wednesday — Crocs filed a series of new lawsuits against about two dozen alleged knock-off artists in U.S. District Courts across the country. 

“These actions underscore our determination to take forceful steps to protect our trademarks and other intellectual property,” Hart said at the time. The company “will not tolerate the infringement of our rights or those who try to freeride on the investments we have made in our brand.”

Those suits were filed on the heels of a 2021 request from Crocs that the U.S. International Trade Commission investigate knockoff products imported to the U.S. in violation of copyright laws.

Crocs has long battled would-be knockoff artists, and in 2006, the ITC issued an order barring the importation of goods that infringe on company patents. The current complaint is similar but relates to trademarks rather than patents.

The Niwot-born company settled a 2008 dispute with Sketchers USA Inc. out of court with the competitor agreeing to discontinue production and sale of certain molded footwear styles.

This article was first published by BizWest, an independent news organization, and is published under a license agreement. © 2022 BizWest Media LLC.

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