Skechers Ties Up Rival in Court

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Manhattan Beach footwear giant Skechers USA Inc has been laced up in infringement cases lately – on both sides of the docket.

The company announced on Wednesday that it filed a lawsuit against San Francisco’s DB Shoe Company, saying DB infringed on the patent for Skechers’ Go Walk line. The suit, filed in federal District Court in Los Angeles, comes just months after Skechers filed two similar lawsuits: one targeting Fila U.S.A. Inc.’s Amazen Memory Mocs and another against Adidas AG’s Reebok International’s Walk Ahead RS shoes.

It’s a sudden burst of litigation from a company that’s often been on the other end of infringement suits.

In February, Aura Technologies in New York filed suit alleging four Skechers shoe models infringed upon their patented Aura Mercury sneaker. The two companies have a settlement conference scheduled for 2015.

Skechers has been targeted by similar suits in 2010 by Asics Corp. and 2008 by Crocs Inc. In a different type of case last year, a Puerto Rican company said Skechers had infringed on a patent for a ratings-based sorting system used on its website. (That case was dismissed.)

In its suit against DB Shoe Company, Skechers alleges that DB’s Super Dream Walk shoes directly copy the outsole of their Go Walk shoes.

“Skechers has invested tremendous resources into designing, developing, and advertising our Skechers Go Walk product line,” David Weinberg, the company’s chief operating officer, said in a statement. “We will not allow our competitors and retailers to infringe on one of our most valuable intellectual properties.”

Skechers shares fell 8 percent Wednesday to close at $58.79.

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