A design patent on Crocs foam-molded clogs is safe after the Federal Circuit rejected a challenge by a rival shoemaker.
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board revived Crocs’ U.S. Patent No. D517,789, on the foam-molded clog design, after an examiner found the patent anticipated by images posted on Crocs’ website more than a year before the application date.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed in an unsigned, nonprecedential opinion, finding the board’s conclusions were supported by substantial evidence. “Having reviewed the board’s decision and the record, we discern no reversible error,” the court said. ...