Deckers filed a lawsuit against Walmart on Wednesday, claiming the retailer infringed on designs for its Ugg, Hoka and Teva brands
According to the suit, filed in a California court, Walmart is selling lookalikes of Deckers’ Ugg Classic Ultra Mini, the Ugg Oh Yeah slide, the Hoka Ora Recovery slide, the Teva Hurricane Drift sandal and the Teva Original Universal sandal in the 90’s multi colorway.
Walmart introduced these similar products to the marketplace “in an effort to exploit Deckers’ goodwill and the reputation” of its brands, the complaint read.
Deckers said it believes Walmart obtained some of these lookalike products through third-party manufacturers, such as the Portland Boot Company, Kendall + Kylie, Fifth & Luxe, Luxur, Wonder Nation, as well as through Walmart’s own private label brand Time and Tru.
“We respect intellectual property rights and take these allegations seriously,” Walmart said in a statement. “We will review the complaint once we have been served with it and will respond as appropriate with the court.”
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FN has reached out to Deckers for a comment.
Deckers is seeking a jury trial and a ruling that Walmart infringed on its designs. It is also seeking an order to prevent the continued sale of the products in question.
This filing marks the latest in a string of similar legal challenges for Walmart. Deckers previously sued Walmart for patent infringement, trade dress infringement and unfair competition in 2019 for allegedly infringing on Ugg’s designs. In April of 2022, a federal judge blocked Walmart from continuing to sell certain shoes that are “confusingly similar” to Vans’ registered trademarks and protectable trade dress during the duration of the litigation between both parties. Vans had sued Walmart in November for selling over 20 pairs of shoes that it said infringed on its designs.
And in September, Crocs and Walmart settled their trademark infringement lawsuit after the clog-maker sued 21 companies in July 2021, including Walmart, for allegedly infringing on its trademarks.
