Rothy’s protects its IP against OESH

Rothy’s intellectual property infringement lawsuit instituted against OESH Shoes in August last year has been resolved.

In the litigation, Rothy’s asserted that certain elements of its design patents and trade dress were infringed by OESH.

The litigation has been concluded through a confidential settlement agreement and a Consent Decree, entered by the US District Court for the Western District of Virginia on 18 September.

The decree prevents OESH from manufacturing, marketing and selling the accused shoe after 31 December this year.

The decree acknowledges the validity of Rothy’s trade dress and its design patents.

The remaining terms of the settlement agreement are confidential.

Rothy’s was founded in 2012 and launched in late 2015 by Roth Martin and Stephen Hawthornthwaite. The shoes are made from repurposed plastic water bottles and other recyclable materials.

Marie Satterfield, general counsel at Rothy’s, said: “We are pleased that the litigation against OESH has been resolved amicably and that they have acknowledged the validity of Rothy’s trade dress and design patent rights.”

She added: “Rothy’s will continue to protect the significant time and investment we’ve made in our innovative designs and other IP. We wish Dr. Kerrigan and OESH well as they launch their redesigned shoe and on future endeavors.”

Michelle Mancino Marsh, IP partner at Arent Fox, commented: “We are very pleased with this outcome for our client and we will continue to work tirelessly to protect Rothy’s valuable IP.”