by Tamera H. Bennett
Does a pair of plastic slip on shoes purchased for $29.99 bring to mind a luxury automobile priced at $51,000? Me neither. But, did you know Porsche is in the shoe business? Me Neither.
The parent company for the Porsche auto-maker sued the maker of the slip on shoes in Germany in July 2009 to stop the distribution of the “Cayman” style Croc. Without reading the complaint, we will assume the equivalent of a “likelihood of consumer confusion” and/or dilution of the Porsche Cayman mark were the causes of action.
In the United States, Porsche does have a registration for “Cayman” in trademark international class 025 for numerous clothing items and it specifically includes FOOTWEAR. The application, registration number 3602568, was issued on April 7, 2009. That date ties in to why a cease and desist letter would have been sent in May. The US registration is based upon Foreign Priority Community Trademark registration with Germany listed as the Country of origin.
Porsche offers a line of “driving shoes.” I have not been able to locate a picture of the “Cayman” brand shoe.
This is another interesting case to watch.
November 12th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
What’s more interesting is that the Porsche shoes have three stripes, the adidas trademark. Turns out that Porsche is a licensee. http://www.chipchick.com/2009/05/porsche_design_adidas_bring_superman.htmlBut seriously, how is this not diluting the three stripe mark? Would you think this Porsche shoe has anything to do with adidas?
November 12th, 2009 at 9:38 pm
It is my understanding that Adidas and Porsche have a license agreement in place where Adidas supplies the clothing for the Porsche race team. Part of that deal probably includes Adidas/Porsche co-branded footwear. http://www12.porsche.com/middle-east/_capetown_/motorsportandevents/motorsport/partner/seriespartner/pmsc/adidas/