Quince Antitrust Row Over Ugg IP Suits Must Navigate Free Speech

The billion-dollar market for warm, fuzzy slippers is facing a constitutional dilemma over companies’ right to sue.

The affordable-luxury brand Quince accused Ugg brand owner Deckers Outdoor Corp. of attempting to monopolize the market for sheepskin- and shearling-lined casual footwear by operating an “assembly line” of sham trademark lawsuits against competitors. To prove antitrust violations, Quince will have to overcome First Amendment protections of companies’ rights to file lawsuits.

“Sheepskin comfort shoes have been around since sheep gave up their wool,” said Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP partner Kelly W. Cunningham, but “there’s a well known, well established litigation ...