Crocs and Joybees Footwear are head-butting in court as they battle over intellectual property rights. The former alleged that its Canada-based rival has stolen trade secrets. Thus, it has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. court.
Crocs claimed that Joybees' chief executive officer, Kellen McCarvel, is a former company employee, and he supposedly stole thousands of documents that contain its trade secrets or highly classified information. The company filed the suit in a federal court in Colorado, and in its complaint, it accused Joybees and its CEO of unfair competition.
SGB Media reported that the filing was made just a day after Joybees also sued Crocs for the same reason. The latest lawsuit filed by the Broomfield, Colorado-headquartered footwear company is said to be an extension of a separate case that was brought to the court in 2021.
It was in that first suit when Crocs first alleged that Joybees and its chief have run off with its trade secrets. In the new complaint, the company further accused McCarvel, of stealing documents that have data about Crocs's proprietary business.
Additionally, the executive allegedly took the entire contents of Crocs' email just before Joybees was launched in 2020. McCarvel had access to these documents and information after working as a mid-level manager at the company.
In response to the initial lawsuit, Joybees countered it by charging Crocs with anti-competitive behavior complaints. It said that the company is only looking to take over or gain dominance in the "injection-molded clogs" market.
Joybees said this violates the U.S. and state antitrust law with consumers. It further claimed that it lost over $1.6 million in annual revenue because Crocs was abusing its monopoly power via exclusive and conditional dealings.
Finally, Fox Business reported that lawyers of Joybees said that the anti-competitive behavior of its rival has resulted in consumers having been deprived of the full benefits of competition, such as "choice, quality, and innovation."
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