Crocs may lose its patent on ugly shoe designs

Crocs are in the fight of their life.

For years the plastic clog maker has been suing rivals, including USA Dawgs, which makes a lookalike clog, claiming that Dawgs and others have been infringing on Crocs’ design patent.

But late last week the US Patent and Trademark Office rejected Crocs’ patent argument, which is a major blow to the already struggling footwear company. The decision was first reported by Footwear News.

The government agency essentially said the Crocs design is not original, that a second company had applied for a similar design patent a year before Crocs.

Crocs told Footwear News that it plans to appeal the decision and will “continue to aggressively enforce its intellectual property portfolio against those who unfairly trade off of Crocs’ goodwill and reputation.”

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