All Legal & Institutional articles
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Puma loses patent case over Avanti shoe design
Puma has suffered a setback in a patent dispute over a sports shoe associated with Rihanna, according to a press release from the Court of Justice of the European Union. The case revolves around the Avanti trainer design, which Puma’s Dutch wholesaler, Handelsmaatschappij J. Van Hilst (HJVH), sought to patent ...
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US SEC fines Skechers for lack of disclosure
On March 7, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that Skechers agreed to pay a $1.25 million civil penalty to settle charges for failing to disclose payments for the benefit of its executives and their immediate family members. According to the US regulator, from 2019 through 2022, ...
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Creditors approve Schuhhaus Kocken’s restructuring plan
The creditors of the insolvent German shoe retailer Schuhhaus Kocken GmbH & Co unanimously cleared the company’s restructuring plan, which was then confirmed by the Mönchengladbach district court. The family-run retailer started insolvency proceedings under self-administration at the end of August 2023, after taking a hit from sluggish ...
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UFG files for bankruptcy
Unlimited Footwear Group (UFG) has unexpectedly filed for bankruptcy in the Netherlands. The proceedings started on Feb. 20 and a Breda-based court appointed an administrator. The announcement comes as a shock as UFG’s stand was bustling with activity at Expo Riva Schuh & Gardabags, an international trade show specializing in ...
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Schuh-Welt files for restructuring under self-administration
The German shoe retailer Schuh-Welt has filed for restructuring under self-administration with the Pirmasens district court, as sluggish demand and rising rent and energy costs have taken their toll on the company’s finances. The retailer operates ten stores in southwestern Germany, including its headquarters in Waldfischbach-Burgalben, in the Rhineland-Palatinate ...
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Skechers celebrates dismissal of shareholder lawsuit by Delaware Court
Skechers USA. Inc. has announced that the Delaware Chancery Court has dismissed with prejudice the shareholder derivative lawsuit filed on July 21, 2022, against all current and former members of the Skechers board of directors named as defendants. The court’s decision to dismiss the action with prejudice was met with ...
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Wortmann obtains a court victory against Birkenstock
The Wortmann Group says that its subsidiary shoe.com GmbH & Co. KG has obtained a victory in the Higher Regional Court of Cologne against Birkenstock in a case alleging copyright infringement. In a ruling issued on Jan. 26, the court overturned a decision made on May 11, 2023, by the ...
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Nike sues Global Heartbreak over alleged Air Jordan imitations
Nike has filed a lawsuit in New Jersey District Court against Global Heartbreak and its founder Naadier Riles for trademark infringement of the Air Jordan 1 High. According to the complaint, the defendant copied Nike’s silhouette and outsole design and replaced the branding with his own. Riles allegedly admitted that ...
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How French retailers can save up to a year’s rent on their lease
In a comprehensive interview, Tanguy Pissembon, a Paris-based legal counsel in real estate, explains how commercial tenants in France can significantly save on their rents when renewing their leases by properly using the country’s legislation.
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Amazon fined in France for excessive surveillance of staff
The Amazon France Logistique arm of U.S. e-commerce giant Amazon was fined €32 million by the French data protection authority for “excessively invasive” surveillance of its employees. According to the authority, the data collected by the scanners used by employees in the parcel processing warehouses represents an “excessive” monitoring system ...
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Alviero Martini under court administration amid supply chain labor exploitation charges
Alviero Martini has been placed under court administration by the Milan court, following a probe that found its supply chain relied on Chinese sweatshops that exploited workers to produce the Italian fashion house’s accessories and shoes. The probe was initiated by the public prosecutors Paolo Storari and Luisa Baima Bollone ...
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Minelli partially saved
The French footwear retailer Minelli is being acquired by three investors and avoids going into liquidation, the news agency AFP reported citing a decision by a Marseille-based commercial tribunal. However, the investors will only keep a third of Minelli’s employees and less than half its stores. The retailer, rebranded Maison ...
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Russia is considering banning parallel imports of Western goods
The Russian government is considering banning parallel imports of a broad range of Western non-food goods. The restrictions could be similar to the Russian food embargo imposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2014, said the deputy Russian Industry and Trade Minister, Victor Evtukhov. The ban stopped the import of ...
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CEC welcomes EU comprise on ecodesign
The European Footwear Confederation (CEC) welcomed a compromise reached on Dec. 4 between the European Parliament and the European Council regarding proposed legislation on ecodesign for Sustainable Product Regulation launched by the European Commission on March 30, 2022. It also believes that the forthcoming legislation could relaunch leather as a ...
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EU to ban the destruction of unsold clothing and footwear
During the night of Dec. 4, the European Parliament and the European Council reached a provisional agreement, at a technical level, on revising the European Union’s ecodesign framework for sustainable products, the parliament said. The parties plan to introduce “ecodesign” rules for products, ban the destruction of unsold clothing and ...
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CEC elects Rosana Perán as president
The general assembly of the European Footwear Confederation (CEC) held on Dec. 1 in Elche, Spain, elected Rosana Perán, as its president for the next two years. She is the first woman to head CEC and succeeds Luis Onofre, president of the Portuguese footwear association, Apiccaps. Perán is president of ...
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KG Schuhkay completes protective shield proceedings
The Hamburg-based footwear retailer KG Schuhkay has completed its protective shield proceedings. Schuhkay applied for self-administration under the German insolvency law in late March this year and entered protective shield proceedings at the end of May. Despite better-than-expected results, the business outlook was clouded by the fallout from the ...
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Austrian children’s shoe manufacturer Richter files for bankruptcy
The Austrian company Ferdinand Richter, the oldest children’s shoe manufacturer in Europe, has filed for bankruptcy with the Graz regional court. The company, which is based in Pasching, near Linz, with management in Graz, is however planning to continue operations, according to media reports. Ferdinand Richter has around €7.9 ...
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Gerry Weber to be delisted
The German fashion group Gerry Weber is set to undergo a capital cut and to delist from the stock market as part of its restructuring plan, which was confirmed on Oct. 25 by the Essen Restructuring Court. The plan, which also includes a €50,000 capital increase, “was approved with ...
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Ralf Ringer faces bankruptcy due to a dispute with the tax authorities
Ralf Ringer, a prominent Russian footwear retailer, faces the risk of being declared bankrupt for failing to pay the lease for a manufacturing facility. The company is locked into a dispute with the Russian tax authorities, which has blocked its bank accounts. As a result, the footwear retailer has missed ...