Skechers secures lawsuit win against Dockers for design infringement

Skechers announced on Wednesday that it has obtained a European Union-wide preliminary injunction against Dockers by Gerli for selling a shoe style that infringes on the U.S. footwear brand’s Hands Free Slip-ins.

On October 5, the Dusseldorf Regional Court in Dusseldorf, Germany 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.

“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,” said Michael Greenberg, president of Skechers.

“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.”

Dockers by Gerli is yet to disclose if it intends to appeal the ruling.

In recent years, Skechers has filed several lawsuit against companies it has accused of infringing on its designs. In August, Skechers filed a lawsuit accusing Laforst Shoes Inc. of copying its slip-in shoe designs. In December 2021, Skechers settled a dispute with Easy Spirit over “direct copies” of two Skechers silhouettes – the Skechers’ Go Walk walking slip-on shoe and the Skechers D’Lite sneaker.