Crocs patent infringement complaint against USA Dawgs rejected
For
years the plastic clog maker has been suing rivals, including USA Dawgs, which
makes a lookalike clog, claiming that Dawgs and others have been infringing on
Crocs’ design patent.
But late last week the
US Patent and Trademark Office rejected Crocs’ patent argument, which is a
major blow to the already struggling footwear company. The decision was first
reported by Footwear News.
The government agency essentially said the Crocs design is not
original, that a second company had applied for a similar design patent a year
before Crocs.
Crocs told Footwear News
that it plans to appeal the decision and will “continue to aggressively enforce
its intellectual property portfolio against those who unfairly trade off of
Crocs’ goodwill and reputation.”
The fight between Crocs and Dawgs dates back to 2006 and
escalated this year when Dawgs sued its rival alleging that Crocs was copying
one of its designs, a Z-strap sandal, and accused its rival of corporate
sabotage.
Extracted from http://www.marketwatch.com
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