Skechers Obtains European Union-Wide Preliminary Injunction Against Dockers by Gerli for Infringing on Skechers Hands Free Slip-Ins® Design Patents
Lawsuit Represents One of Many Enforcement Measures That Skechers Is Taking Worldwide to Protect the Brand’s Skechers Hands Free Slip-Ins® Intellectual Property Rights
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Skechers USA, Inc., The Comfort Technology CompanyTM, announced today that it has obtained a European Union-wide preliminary injunction against Dockers by Gerli (“Dockers”) for selling a shoe style that infringes on Skechers’ proprietary Skechers Hands Free Slip-ins® designs.
Skechers sued Dockers for design infringement in the Dusseldorf Regional Court in Dusseldorf, Germany. In an October 5, 2023 opinion, the German court found that the Dockers shoe infringed on one of Skechers Hands Free Slip-ins®’ heel pillow designs, and issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting Dockers from continuing to offer its shoe for sale in the European Union.
Michael Greenberg, president of Skechers, stated: “This lawsuit is one of the many enforcement measures that Skechers is taking against third parties worldwide to protect its intellectual property rights in Skechers Hands Free Slip-ins® designs and technologies. While the ruling can be appealed, we are very pleased that the German court in the first instance acknowledged Skechers’ rights and immediately stopped the sale of the offending shoe style throughout the European Union. Skechers invests tremendous resources into product development to introduce fresh, unique and exciting footwear to its customers year in and year out. While Skechers always prefers to compete in the marketplace rather than the courtroom, the Company has no choice but to seek legal recourse when competitors infringe on our intellectual property rights. Skechers will continue to aggressively police and enforce its proprietary rights in Skechers Hands Free Slip-ins®.”
About SKECHERS U.S.A., Inc.
Skechers U.S.A., Inc. (NYSE:SKX), a Fortune 500® company based in Southern California, designs, develops and markets a diverse range of lifestyle and performance footwear, apparel and accessories for men, women and children. Collections from The Comfort Technology Company™ are available in over 180 countries and territories through department and specialty stores, and direct to consumers through digital stores and over 4,700 Company- and third-party-owned physical retail stores. The Company manages its international business through a network of wholly-owned subsidiaries, joint venture partners, and distributors. For more information, please visit about.skechers.com and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
This announcement contains forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, Skechers’ future domestic and international growth, financial results and operations including expected net sales and earnings, its development of new products, future demand for its products, its planned domestic and international expansion, opening of new stores and additional expenditures, and advertising and marketing initiatives. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking language such as "believe," "anticipate," "expect," "estimate," "intend," "plan," "project," "will," "could," "may," "might," or any variations of such words with similar meanings. Any such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause or contribute to such differences include the disruption of business and operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic; delays or disruptions in our supply chain; international economic, political and market conditions including the effects of inflation and foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations around the world, the challenging consumer retail markets in the United States and the impact of Russia’s war with Ukraine; sustaining, managing and forecasting costs and proper inventory levels; losing any significant customers; decreased demand by industry retailers and cancellation of order commitments due to the lack of popularity of particular designs and/or categories of products; maintaining brand image and intense competition among sellers of footwear for consumers, especially in the highly competitive performance footwear market; anticipating, identifying, interpreting or forecasting changes in fashion trends, consumer demand for the products and the various market factors described above; sales levels during the spring, back-to-school and holiday selling seasons; and other factors referenced or incorporated by reference in Skechers’ annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 and its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q in 2023. Taking these and other risk factors associated with the COVID-19 pandemic into consideration, the dynamic nature of these circumstances means that what is stated in this press release could change at any time, and as a result, actual results could differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements. The risks included here are not exhaustive. Skechers operates in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time, and we cannot predict all such risk factors, nor can we assess the impact of all such risk factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Given these risks and uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results. Moreover, reported results should not be considered an indication of future performance.
Jennifer Clay
SKECHERS U.S.A., Inc.
jennc@skechers.com
(310) 937-1326
Source: Skechers USA, Inc.
Released Oct 11, 2023 • 7:00 am EDT