The U.S. International Trade Commission issued a general exclusion order July 15 barring importation of shoes that violate the design patent underlying the popular Crocs footwear, after concluding that “it is difficult to identify the source of infringing products” (In the matter of Certain Foam Footwear).
According to a leading design patent practitioner, there are potentially hundreds of overseas manufacturers “willing and able to produce this kind of foam footwear,” and the ITC’s general exclusion order shows that design patents can be an effective tool to prevent infringing imports from entering the United States.