A few eyebrows were raised in the footwear industry when a small ad appeared in the back of Footwear News from Green Market Services Company, Inc. The simple black and white box read in part, “Any use of “GREEN,” or any colorable variation, as a mark for footwear, including “environmentally friendly” footwear lines or collections, may be a direct infringement of our trademark.”
With the recent increase in eco-friendly materials in footwear, many brands are using “green” in their marketing and products. According to Green Marketing Services spokesperson, Tom Conley, there was no specific incident that prompted the company to take out the ad. “There was a lot of noise about different environmentally friendly footwear brands and different articles were talking about green footwear,” he said. “We are a small company, and felt that we needed to remind the industry that we own the trademark. It happens from time to time.”
Green Marketing Services is based in Brockton, Mass. and is primarily involved in the brown shoe market with virtually no activity in the active, athletic, or outdoor footwear industries, but they are actively producing products under the “Green Footwear” brand name and various private label products.
According to federal and state court databases, no lawsuits have been filed by Green Marketing Services to date. Conley would not comment on future actions concerning the trademark for Green Footwear.
