Walmart is being sued for copyright infringement and unfair competition by shoemaker Deckers—the owner of brands including Hoka, Teva and Ugg.
As in the case with similar lawsuits filed recently against the nation’s largest retailer, the Deckers suit includes Walmart’s partnership with a third-party provider of allegedly infringing products. However, nowhere in the filing are Kendall or Kylie Jenner, or any of the other independent brands involved listed as defendants. The complaint does include 10 John/Jane Does who “may also be responsible in one manner for another for the wrongs alleged herein,” and whose identities plaintiff’s attorneys say are unknown to the Deckers and will be named once they are.
In this suit, filed in the Central District of California last week, the alleged infringer of the Ugg “Ultra Mini” model is the Portland Boot Company and its boot known as “Lucy”.
The alleged infringement on the Ugg “Oh Yeah” two-band slipper is the “Women’s Shane Faux Fur Two Band Slipper,” in the Kendall + Kylie collection, of the famous Kardashian reality TV family whose product is carried by Walmart.
The shoes are also stocked at Amazon.
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While neither Kylie or Kendall is listed as defendants in the complaint, Kendall Jenner is mentioned as a celebrity regularly seen wearing Uggs, along with the likes of Hailey Bieber, Emily Ratajowski and Megan Fox.
The Hoka brand’s “Ora Recovery Slide” boot is alleged to be infringed by the Fifth & Luxe brand’s “Women’s Comfortable Microsuede Winter Boots”, the Teva brand’s “Hurricane Drift Trade” allegedly copied by both the Wonder Nation “EVA Beach Sport Sandal” and the George “Float Active Strap Sandal” and the Teva “Universal ‘90s Multi Colorway” are alleged to be infringed upon by Walmart’s own brand Time and Tru and its offering, “Rainbow Colorway”.
“We respect intellectual property rights and take these allegations seriously,” Walmart said in a statement to Sourcing Journal. “We will review the complaint once we have been served with it and will respond as appropriate with the court.”
This is not the first time Walmart has been sued for trademark infringement relating to brands it partners with.
A November 2022 lawsuit brought by Patagonia alleges infringing use of its patented P-6 fish logo by Robin Ruth, a New York-based apparel company, also mentioned as a defendant.
Since settling a lawsuit with Crocs in September of 2022, in which the Arkansas-based retail giant was named among 20 other companies, Walmart’s behavior as a defendant in trademark infringement lawsuits has been anything but passive.
Even a settled suit isn’t necessarily the end of the story when it comes to Walmart. In late October of 2022, Vans dragged Walmart back into a California District Court to complain that Walmart wasn’t obeying the same judge’s injunction from March that forbade the mass retailer from producing or selling its versions of the Vans Old Skool shoe. Ultimately, the judge decided not to hold Walmart in contempt of court, as Vans had asked, but did warn the matter could be revisited due to a possible “pattern of negligence” in the retail giant’s behavior.
In a statement sent to Sourcing Journal at the time of Judge David Carter’s ruling, Walmart wrote that it “… took appropriate action and removed the inventory in question when the matter was brought to our attention earlier this year. We take court orders seriously and are pleased that the district court has affirmed our compliance with the injunction. We are reviewing the amended complaint and will respond in court as appropriate.”
In the Patagonia lawsuit, Walmart responded to the plaintiff’s filing with a nine-page rebuttal that emphatically denied all accusations of infringement, and furthermore declared Patagonia’s prized P-6 fish mark to be “fair use” in the public domain and Walmart’s use of it, free expression protected by the First Amendment.
Attorneys for Deckers did not respond to Sourcing Journal requests for comment.