Crocs has sued Five Below, accusing the US discount chain of selling knock-offs of its Classic Clog and its Jibbitz shoe charms. The complaint, filed on 18 September in federal court in Colorado by Crocs and its subsidiary Jibbitz, targets Five Below’s “Juniors Charm Clog” and a clog-shaped “Novelty Shoe Purse”.
Five Below lists the children’s clog at $7. Crocs’ adult Classic Clogs sell for $50 to $75 and its kids’ version for about $40, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
What Crocs claims
Crocs relies on two federal trade dress registrations covering the clog’s three-dimensional design, including its hole pattern, trapezoidal openings and textured band. It also asserts a footwear design patent and three utility patents on systems for attaching decorative charms to shoes. According to The Fashion Law, the claims cover trade dress infringement and dilution, patent infringement and unfair competition.
Crocs says it sent Five Below a demand letter on 4 March identifying the products. The complaint alleges that Five Below acknowledged the letter twice but kept selling the items until as recently as June. Crocs argues that Five Below is trying to trade off its investment in the brand.
What it wants
Crocs is seeking a jury trial, damages and profits in unspecified amounts, attorneys’ fees, a permanent injunction and the destruction of infringing stock. Philadelphia-based Five Below, which runs more than 2,000 stores in 46 states, did not respond to requests for comment. Crocs, by the Inquirer’s count, sells about 150 million pairs of shoes a year and has annual sales above $4 billion.
The case pits a $7 shelf price against the idea that a shoe’s shape, not its logo, is the brand.
What to watch
- Five Below’s formal response to the complaint.
- Any request for a preliminary injunction against further sales.
- Whether Five Below contests the validity of the design and charm patents.
