US: Lawsuit attacks clog maker Crocs for ‘ill-founded’ patent abuse

The maker of popular clog Crocs is facing a lawsuit accusing the company of patent abuses to hold a monopoly on the market.

According to reports, Crocs rival USA Dawgs filed a lawsuit Wednesday accusing the company of obtaining more than 90 percent of the market in the US by taking down rivals through unfounded patent litigation.

”Crocs has monopolized, or at least attempted to monopolize, the market for EVA clog-type footwear products by first accumulating a number of patents, no matter how weak or narrow, and then asserting these patent rights far beyond the narrow scope of the actual patent claims through instituting a series of sham lawsuits in order to slowly litigate its competition out of the market,” Dawgs said in its lawsuit. “These ill-founded, bad-faith patent infringement actions, and other accompanying anticompetitive conduct, constitute violations of the antitrust laws.”

The allegations include claims that Crocs illegally obtained patents that were later used against competitors.

Reports did not specify the damages being sought by Dawgs.

Full content: Courthouse News Service

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