Crocs, Inc. Awarded Multiple Patents for Utility and Design of Footwear Products
Company Files Actions in the U.S. International Trade Commission and U.S. District Court Against 11 Companies to Protect Intellectual Property
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NIWOT, Colo.– April 3, 2006–Crocs, Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX) today announced it has received four patents covering various aspects of its footwear. The patents, which cover utility aspects applicable to a number of its footwear models and design elements of its Beach(TM), Cayman, Nile(TM) and Highland(TM) models, were recently issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Crocs’s U.S. Patent No. 6,993,858 B2 issued on February 7, 2006, and U.S. Patent Nos. D517,788, D517,789 and D517,790 issued on March 28, 2006. Crocs has also filed additional design patents applications for a number of its other footwear models.
The Company also announced that it has filed complaints with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) and the U.S. Federal District Court against 11 companies that manufacture, import or distribute products that Crocs believes infringe U.S. Patent Nos. 6,993,858 and D517,789, as well as Crocs’s distinctive trade dress . Crocs’s ITC complaint seeks a permanent exclusion order to prohibit all future importation of infringing goods, as well as cease and desist orders to prohibit the sale of infringing goods already present in the United States. The U.S. District Court complaint, which was filed in Denver, Colorado, seeks a permanent injunction against infringement as well as monetary damages.
Ron Snyder, CEO of Crocs, stated “We are very pleased to have the unique qualities of our footwear recognized by the issuance of these patents. We take great pride in the design and construction of our products and receipt of these patents demonstrates the level of innovation we have applied to our footwear. We also take very seriously our responsibility to protect this intellectual property. Although consumers have clearly demonstrated their desire for the genuine Crocs brand, it is incumbent upon us to fully protect our intellectual property and we will do so in every appropriate instance where we believe our intellectual property is being infringed.”
In addition to the four patents announced today (and other pending U.S. applications), Crocs has either received or applied for patent protection covering a variety of its models in other regions of the world, including the European Union, Asia, South America, Australia and Canada.
About Crocs, Inc.
Crocs, Inc. is a rapidly growing designer, manufacturer and marketer of footwear for men, women and children under the crocs brand. All of our footwear products incorporate our proprietary closed-cell resin material, which we believe represents a substantial innovation in footwear comfort and functionality. Our proprietary closed-cell resin, which we refer to as Croslite(TM), enables us to produce a soft and lightweight, non-marking, slip- and odor-resistant shoe. These unique properties make crocs footwear ideal for casual wear, as well as for recreational uses such as boating, hiking, fishing and gardening, and have enabled us to successfully market our products to a broad range of consumers. crocs come in a wide array of colors and styles are sold in more than 6,500 North American retail locations and at our e-tailing website, www.CROCS.com.
Forward Looking Statements
The matters regarding the future discussed in this news release include forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. This news release contains forward-looking statements relating to the Company’s reporting of the recent issuance of certain patents in the United States, the Company’s patent activities in countries outside the U.S. and certain legal proceedings recently commenced by the Company with respect to its intellectual property. Successfully obtaining and enforcing intellectual property rights for our products may be subject to significant difficulties and uncertainties. The Company, therefore, cautions investors not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this release.
Additional risks and uncertainties relating to the Company include, but are not limited to, the following: our limited operating history; our significant recent expansion; changing fashion trends; our reliance on market acceptance of the small number of products we sell; our ability to develop and sell new products; our limited manufacturing capacity and distribution channels; our reliance on third party manufacturing and logistics providers for the production and distribution of our products; our reliance on a single-source supply for certain raw materials; our management and information systems infrastructure; our ability to obtain and protect intellectual property rights; the effect of competition in our industry; the potential effects of seasonality on our sales; our ability to attract, assimilate and retain management talent; and other factors described in the “Risk Factors” section of Crocs’ annual report on Form 10-K. Readers are encouraged to review that section and all other disclosures appearing in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
