Skechers sued at UPC and in US over hands-free slip-on shoes

Skechers is heavily promoting its range of slip-on shoes, called ‘Slip-ins’. Competitor Kizik, which markets its products as ‘the world’s best hands-free, slip on shoes’ and manages its patents via affiliate company Fast IP, has now sued Skechers for patent infringement at the UPC’s local division Munich.

Neither a preliminary injunction nor a revocation action has yet been filed. However, Fast IP filed a parallel infringement action at the Eastern District Court of Texas several months ago.

Kizik’s EP 4 003 084 protects a shoe design featuring a stabiliser that enables the wearer to put on the shoe quickly. The inventor named on the patent is Kizik’s founder Michael Pratt. The EPO granted the patent this year.

Inventor-led company takes on corporation

Michael Pratt filed his first patent for hands-free slip-on shoes in 2009. He founded Kizik in 2017 and has licensed his inventions to Nike since 2019. His company continuously launches new types of shoes using hands-free slip-on technology and has a strong presence in the US, where Kizik operates numerous branches.

Skechers has recently launched an aggressive marketing campaign for its own ‘Slip-ins’ series. Like Kizik’s range, this series includes various models from sports to winter shoes.

Also US-based, Skechers claims to be the world’s third-largest footwear company. The company operates 5,300 shops globally and reported record annual sales of $8.97 billion in 2024. Headquartered in California, Skechers designs, develops and markets various lifestyle and performance footwear, apparel and accessories. 3G Capital acquired the company in September.

Six patents asserted in US

The defendants in the UPC proceedings are Skechers’ subsidiaries in Germany, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, and the US.

According to the court register, Skechers has retained a team led by Powell Gilbert partner Tim Whitfield. The team works alongside Axel Verhauwen, Michael Bergermann, and Julia Vogtmeier from Düsseldorf IP firm Krieger Mes.

Plaintiff Fast IP and Kizik work with a mixed team from Grünecker in the UPC proceedings, comprising Bernd Allekotte (lead), Julia Traumann and patent attorneys Jens Koch and Sebastian Flach.

US firm Boies Schiller Flexner, which represents the companies in the parallel US proceedings through Washington partner Ryan Dykal, brought in the European team. The US complaint is available online and asserts six patents (patent numbers: 11,633,006, 12,274,325, 11,871,811, 12,121,096, D1038607 and D1037641) against various Skechers models.