Federal Judge Asks Walmart To Stop Selling Knockoff Vans Shoes

A federal judge in California has issued a temporary injunction that prevents Walmart from selling Vans look-alike shoes.

The injunction was issued in response to Vans’ complaint in which the brand alleged that Walmart “embarked on an escalating campaign to knock off virtually all of Vans’ bestselling shoes” and sell them under its own private labels including Time and Tru, Wonder Nation and No Boundaries brands.

While Walmart referred to Vans’ claims as weak, the judge noted that the similarities between Vans’ stripe marks and Walmart’s shoes were unmistakable.

The judge also referred to a 2014 tweet from Walmart’s account, wherein the company responded to a customer who asked if the company carried Vans shoes with “Would you mind a shoes (sic) similar to the Vans?”

Walmart claimed that these shoes’ sales were not causing Vans to lose sales and its repartition was not being damaged. And that many of the elements that are the center of the debate are used by numerous sneaker brands, including AirSpeed, Airwalk, and Hurley, among others.

“We are reviewing the order and considering our options. We plan to continue defending the company,” a Walmart spokesperson said.

The company has also been accused by other brands for playing fast and loose when it comes to the design of its private label products and infringing the rights of other brands. In 2021, the company was sued by rapper Ye and the Yeezy brand for allowing the sale of the brand’s shoes by third-party players via its marketplace.

Originally published at https://retailbum.com on April 7, 2022.