Rothy’s, Inc. announced that a federal court in the Northern District of California has entered a Consent Judgment in Rothy’s patent infringement lawsuit against Birdies, Inc., permanently enjoining and restraining Birdies from selling its infringing knit Blackbird shoes and any other products that infringe Rothy’s design patents asserted in the litigation.
Under the Consent Judgment, Birdies acknowledges the validity of the design patents Rothy’s asserted and that Birdies’ Knit Blackbird infringes one or more of Rothy’s patents.
Rothy’s filed its complaint against Birdies on April 5, 2021, asserting Birdies’ Knit Blackbird infringes Rothy’s U.S. Design Patents Nos. D885,016, D885,017, D909,718, D870,425, and D925,874. The Consent Judgment comes after Rothy’s successfully opposed Birdies’ Motion for Summary Judgment in May 2022 (Civil Action No. 3:21-cv-02438-VC, Dkt. 191). The Court entered the Consent Judgment on August 25, 2022 (Civil Action No. 3:21-cv-02438-VC, Dkt. 204).
“With over 200 design patents granted or pending, we care deeply about protecting the intellectual property Rothy’s works so hard to create,” said Marie Satterfield, chief legal officer at Rothy’s. “This court order underscores the strength and staying power of Rothy’s robust IP portfolio. We will continue to vigorously enforce Rothy’s rights and hold accountable those who infringe our designs.”
The Consent Judgment comes following other recent successful enforcements of Rothy’s intellectual property portfolio. In January 2021, the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) in the UK ruled that Austrian shoe manufacturer Giesswein’s “Pointy Flat” shoe infringed Rothy’s registered “The Pointed Loafer” Community Design (Claim No. IP-2019-000084) and ordered Giesswein to cease all sales of the infringing shoes. In September 2019, Rothy’s resolved a patent and trade dress infringement lawsuit against OESH Shoes. The Court in the Western District of Virginia entered a Consent Decree (Civil Action No. 3:18-cv-00067, Dkt. 79) enjoining OESH from manufacturing, marketing and selling the shoes and whereby OESH acknowledged the validity of Rothy’s “The Flat” trade dress and asserted design patents.
