Egonlab, "phygital" collaboration of NFTs from Egonlab and Crocs, as part of the "Egonimati" collection for the FW22 season. Credits: Egonlab x Crocs.
Footwear specialists Crocs and Joybees have taken to court in a clash over intellectual property, market competition and trade secrets.
The duo have each filed competing claims against the other in a Colorado federal court, the most recent being initiated by Crocs, which accused its rival of unfair competition.
Crocs’ came just one day after Joybees filed a similar complaint in the same court against its competitor, with the Colorado-based firm claiming that Crocs was attempting to monopolise the market for “injection-moulded clogs”.
In the counterclaim, Joybees alleged that Crocs was abusing this power through “exclusive and conditional dealings”, with the company also seeking a declaration that its shoes had not violated Crocs’ intellectual property.
The filings build on a long-standing feud between the two footwear brands, initially fired up in 2021 when Crocs first sued Joybees, alleging that Kellen McCarvel, a former Crocs employee turned Joybee CEO, had stolen proprietary information following his exit.
The claim was further expanded on in Crocs’ latest lawsuit, where the company outlined additional alleged theft in regards to “specifications, standards and test and audit methods that dictate the quality and performance of the shoe material”.
According to the suit, Joybees allegedly hired the help of former and current Crocs’ employees with the aim of making footwear in a similar manufacturing process to the latter, as it looked to “piggyback off” Crocs’ success.
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