Kizik brings legal dispute with Skechers to Europe

HandsFree Labs (HFL), the parent company of Kizik, has extended its legal dispute with Skechers USA to Europe, where it has now filed a trademark infringement complaint with the Unified Patent Court in Munich, Germany.

In the complaint, issued by Fast IP, LLC – the intellectual property (IP) holding company of HFL – and seen by WWD, a disputed amount of one million euros was cited. The number serves as a preliminary estimate used to get the lawsuit filed, the media outlet noted.

HFL has named the German, Swiss, Belgian, Italian and French arms of Skechers operations in the suit, which bears resemblance to the complaint already underway in the US. As such, HFL is once again targeting Skechers’ Hands Free Slip-Ins line, the products of which it claims infringe on a number of its utility and design patents

Akin to its US filing, HFL has called for Skechers to be banned from selling its hands-free shoes in 18 European countries, and is seeking to recall products placed on the market since July 9. HFL is also requesting provisional damages amounting to 200,000 euros, as well as other monetary damages.

HFL had initially launched its legal quarrel with Skechers in July. According to its filing with a court in Texas, the company believes Skechers had “knowingly and willfully” infringed on its patents that protect “ornamental innovations”. Gareth Hosford, HFL’s CEO, said the company was “forced to defend” its hands-free technology “against a company that chose to imitate rather than innovate”.

Skechers later publicly responded to the lawsuit, calling HFL’s claims “baseless” and stating that it intended to “aggressively challenge both the validity of the patents and the infringement claims”. In its statement, the footwear giant said it had “obtained more than 140 utility and design patents worldwide, including in the US”. It also expressed suspicion at the timing of the lawsuit, which came shortly after the announcement that the brand was to be taken over by 3G Capital in a 9.42 billion dollar merger.

In regards to this latest complaint, a Skechers spokesperson told WWD that the company had “no further comment”.