Kizik, Skechers European legal dispute arrives at ruling

Skechers and HandsFree Labs (HFL), the parent company of Kizik, have both claimed victories in a European patent dispute over hands-free footwear, following a ruling by the Unified Patent Court in Munich.

Skechers said the court rejected infringement claims concerning three of four shoe styles challenged by Kizik, describing the case as “largely unfounded”.

However, HandsFree Labs, which filed the EU case under Fast IP, LLC, the intellectual property (IP) holding company of HFL, said the latest ruling found that certain Skechers shoes infringed its patent.

Skechers has been ordered to stop selling and remove the affected products across the court’s 18 participating EU countries, including Germany, France and Italy. Damages were also ordered. The decision can be appealed by either party.

The legal dispute begain in 2025 in the US, where separate litigation remains ongoing. At the time, HFL accused Skechers of infringing utility and design patents covering the mechanical features that allow shoes to be put on without using hands. The company then brought proceedings in Europe, targeting Skechers’ Hands Free Slip-Ins range.

Skechers has disputed the allegations, arguing that its footwear uses its own technology and that the patents held by Kizik were invalid. The company says it holds more than 300 hands-free utility and design patents worldwide.

For Skechers, hands-free footwear has become an increasingly important category since its introduction in 2021. The infringement claims closely followed Skechers' 9.42 billion dollars merger with 3G Capital, which the company claimed was the instigating factor in Kizik's decision to pursue legal obstructions.