The stamp of “I don’t know how to dress myself” and the dirty little secret of many, the colourful abomination known as Crocs has actually spawned a copycat, reportedly. Crocs Inc. filed a lawsuit on July 10th against sneaker giant Sketchers USA for basically duplicating their signature design and logo. Foam clogs with “Nano Lite” construction sold by Sketchers with names like “Low Tide” and “Wooly Bully” (shown above on the right) are a direct infringement of their patented design, Crocs Inc. claims (their shoes on the left). The Sketchers shoes also feature “Cali Bear,” an animated bear logo which supposedly mimics Crocs’ crocodile logo. Trying to imitate Crocs… if that isn’t a slap to the face, I don’t know what is. Ripoff or not, points lost from Sketchers for creating something that even remotely resembled shoes for people who have given up in life.

“We believe that this lawsuit is completely without merit and will vigorously defend ourselves against such baseless allegations,” says Philip G. Paccione, General Counsel and Executive V.P. of Sketchers. “We believe that this lawsuit is nothing more than a never-ending attempt by Crocs to monopolize the molded footwear market by bullying competitors and customers and misusing the United States Patent Office and federal courthouse.”

Crocs Inc., whose stock fell 83 percent in the past year, has been fighting to prohibit copycats of its shoes. As they should; with numbers like those, they’re going to need every penny that they can get.

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Cheryl : A recent university graduate, Cheryl's biggest nemeses are the fashion sheep of the world. She enjoys food, soaking up whatever her native Toronto has to offer, and finding a great quirky handbag. Her only rule of fashion: you want to, so wear it.
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