Skechers fires back at Palm Desert flip-flop company
Terri Kelly, creator and founder of TerriKelly flip flops, says shoe-giant Skechers is counter-suing her after she filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against them in May.
“Skechers is using my trademark, ‘Yoga Pants for your Feet’. When I stood up for my rights, their response was to sue me for the cancellation of my trademark,” says Kelly.
Skechers used the phrase on social media, and in a shoe commercial, a year after Kelly filed her now federally-registered trademark.
Nancy Ly, an associate with Kelly’s representation Fish & Richardson, says, “Skechers’ alleges that Terri’s YOGA PANTS FOR YOUR FEET trademark is descriptive, which means that the trademark merely describes the product associated with the trademark or a quality or characteristic of the product.”
Kelly cannot comment on case specifics, as advised by her legal representation. Skechers did not return our request for comment.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office has a web page dedicated to advising people who’ve been sued for infringement or cancellation of a trademark. According to the site, the defendant, in this case Skechers, will have to prove the trademark is invalid and should have never been registered to Kelly.
“Small business and the entrepreneurs are the backbone to this country. We create. We innovate. We trademark our ideas. We then go out and work hard, and then go out and try to make a difference,” says Kelly. “We should not have to go to court to defend our rights to our own trademarks.”
We will follow this case through the court system. Kelly says it will likely be a long and costly process.
“It’s terrifying. It’s terrifying. I’m a small entrepreneur and I don’t have the resources for a several-year battle over my federally-registered trademark,” says Kelly.
One recent case where the USPTO canceled a trademark includes one Native-American community’s battle with the Washington Redskins. Litigation is ongoing.
