Skechers sues Steve Madden over sneaker logo trademarks

By Blake Brittain

(Reuters) - Shoe maker Skechers sued fashion company Steve Madden in Los Angeles federal court on Tuesday, claiming its "Kennie" line of sneakers violate Skechers' trademark rights in its "S" logos.

The Steve Madden sneakers feature an "S" design that is likely to mislead consumers into thinking Skechers made or endorsed them, the lawsuit said.

Steve Madden Ltd said in a statement that its shoe was "in no way inspired by Skechers" and that its "swirl" design does not resemble the Skechers logo. The company said that it has used variations of the design since the 1990s and plans to "vigorously defend" against the lawsuit.

A Skechers spokesperson declined to comment on the lawsuit on Wednesday, citing pending litigation.

Skechers' lawsuit called the design on Steve Madden's shoe "essentially a stylized 'S' of similar (if not nearly identical) proportions" to the 'S' logos on Skechers' shoes, placed in the same location.

Manhattan Beach, California-based Skechers asked the court to order Steve Madden to stop the alleged misuse of its trademarks and requested an unspecified amount of money damages.

Skechers has been involved in intellectual property disputes with several other shoe makers including Nike, Adidas and Easy Spirit. It sued Berkshire Hathaway-owned Brooks Sports for trademark infringement and Hermes for design-patent infringement last year in lawsuits that were later settled.

Skechers also sued Long Island City, New York-based Steve Madden in 2015 for allegedly infringing several design patents covering aspects of its sneakers. The companies settled that dispute in 2016.

The case is Skechers U.S.A. Inc v. Steven Madden Ltd, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, No. 2:23-cv-04869.

For Skechers: Daniel Petrocelli and Jeffrey Barker of O'Melveny & Myers

For Steve Madden: attorney information not available

(Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington)