Arnold & Porter Prevails in Long-Running Patent Infringement Case

Arnold & Porter successfully secured a victory for client Crocs, Inc., bringing to a close a long-running and hotly contested patent infringement matter in Crocs’ home state of Colorado.

Arising out of Crocs’s seminal International Trade Commission case filed in 2006, Crocs has asserted patent infringement claims for 16 years against related entities Double Diamond Distribution, Ltd. and U.S.A. Dawgs, Inc. for the sale of “Dawgs” footwear that knocked off Crocs’ design and utility patent rights. After Crocs prevailed in the ITC, Double Diamond and U.S.A. Dawgs brought counterclaims sounding in antitrust, tortious interference, false advertising, and other theories against Crocs and its officers and directors.

Over time, Arnold & Porter secured dismissal of every one of the counterclaims. The case featured dozens of contested motions and spawned several related lawsuits with multiple fees and sanctions awards, administrative actions before the ITC and Patent Trial and Appeal Board, as well as two appeals to the Federal Circuit and one to the Ninth Circuit–all of which we resolved successfully. By early 2022, all that remained for trial were Crocs’ infringement claims. Shortly before trial was to begin in July 2022, consistent with all of Crocs’s prior vigorous defense, defendants withdrew their remaining invalidity defenses. They also extended offers of judgment, giving Crocs the win.

The Arnold & Porter team was led by partner Michael Berta. The team also included partners Sean Callagy, Suneeta Hazra, and associates Isaac Ramsey, Neda Dadpey, and Jessica Gillotte. Partners Michael L. Bernstein, Benjamin Mintz, and counsel Charles Malloy assisted in an interim bankruptcy proceeding involving one of the defendants.