Porche's Lawyers Threaten Crocs Over the Name Cayman
Crocs reported in a routine SEC filing that it had received
a nasty letter from Porsche's attorneys demanding that Crocs stop selling its Cayman brand of plastic clogs. Porsche says that it violates its trademark which seems highly unlikely.
[I]n the 10-Q that footnoted frequent flyer Crocs (CROX) filed last week, there was an interesting new disclosure about Porsche, the German car-maker, suing Crocs, the Colorado-based shoe manufacturer over the use of the name Cayman. Here's the snip from the filing:
On May 11, 2009, Crocs Europe B.V. received a letter from Dr. Ing. H.c.F. Porsche AG ("Porsche") claiming that the Company's use of the "Cayman" shoe model designator infringes upon their Community Trademark Registration of the mark "CAYMAN" in class 25. Porsche is requesting that Crocs Europe B.V. immediately cease and desist use of the Cayman mark and pay Porsche's attorney's fees in conjunction with the issuance of the notice letter. On July 30, 2009 the Company was served with notice of an injunction against Crocs Europe BV's use of the Cayman mark in Germany.
It's interesting that Porsche hasn't filed a similar claim in the U.S. It seems highly unlikely that Porsche trademarked the word Cayman in connection with shoes. It is also most unlikely that customers would be confused between a $50,000 Porsche and some $30 plastic clogs, so there goes that trade dress claim.
