Walmart Lawsuit: Retail Giant Ordered To Stop Selling Look-Alike Vans

Walmart (WMT) and skate footwear brand Vans have gone head-to-head in a legal battle. The latter has claimed the retail giant knocked off its “bestselling shoes” with its own private labels.

U.S. District Judge David Carter has now issued a temporary injunction barring Walmart from selling the alleged Vans alike-alike shoes, calling the similarities between Walmart's shoe and the skate wear company’s stripe mark “unmistakable,” Retail Dive reported.

In the complaint filed by Vans in November and obtained by Retail Dive, Vans claimed that Walmart blatantly knocked off more than 20 versions of its shoes, selling them through its Time and Tru, Wonder Nation, and No Boundaries brands.

The lawsuit contends that Walmart is creating confusion among consumers and has “flooded the market with cheap, low-quality, and confusingly similar shoes that harm Vans’ goodwill and reputation.”

However, Walmart fought back against Vans’ claims, calling them “weak,” a filing noted. A company spokesperson told the news outlet that it plans to “continue defending the company.”

The retailer also argued that the temporary injunction would cost it at least an estimated $1.4 million to remove and dispose of the shoes, which it said is not costing Vans sales or diminishing its reputation, according to the court filing.

Walmart also pointed to common similarities between the shoe designs and many other sneaker brands such as Airwalk, Air Speed, Hurley, Vox, and DC.

With the suit, Vans is looking for monetary damages as well as a permanent ban against Walmart from selling the alleged knock-off shoes.

This is not the first time that Walmart has found itself embroiled in an infringement suit.

In 2021, Walmart was sued by Kanye West and his Yeezy brand over claims that shoes that allegedly looked similar to the rapper’s were sold on its marketplace site by third-party retailers. The suit came after Walmart sued West over use of an alleged look-alike logo, which it said was likely to “cause confusion and lead to consumer deception.”

As of Thursday's premarket hours, shares of Walmart were trading at $155.20, up 21 cents or 0.14%.