Target Can’t Escape Vans Trade Dress Complaint

Vans Inc.'s complaint that Target Corp. infringed its shoe trademarks and trade dress was detailed enough to survive dismissal, a federal court ruled.

Vans alleges that Target’s Camella Lace-Up Sneaker is a knockoff of its “iconic” Old Skool Shoe that includes Vans’s “Side Stripe” trademark, as well as other features such as its “white-on-black color scheme and overall shape and silhouette.” Target confuses customers by selling its shoe alongside products bearing Vans’s signature checkerboard pattern and including the shoe in search results for “women’s Vans shoes” on its website, Vans said in its complaint.

The U.S. District Court for the ...