Niwot, Colorado-based Crocs has chosen to take a heavy-handed approach, literally, to a glove inspired by its famed foam shoes. The clog swung the ax on a blue pair of gloves created by Matt Benedetto, who built the shoes using a 3-D printer as part of his Unnecessary Inventions platform. The letter specifically addressed his use of a Crocs rivet, which was incorporated into the gloves’ designs.
Benedetto held up an image of the Crocs letter on Instagram where he wrote, “Well I got a cease and desist letter in the mail last week. It’s not my first one and probably won’t be my last.”
Given the viral response to the gloves, Benedetto wasn’t surprised he was contacted and guessed the company would either be thrilled and give him free product or send a cease and desist. On YouTube, he explained, “If you look at all my inventions, it’s very clear that all of my products are written completely out of parody,” which Benedetto noted is protected under trademark law.
He added, “I thought Crocs was a really cool company and that they understood social media; they understood kind of how content creators work. They have some amazing collaborations to get some great p.r. But fair is definitely a grey area when it comes to creating content on line and it definitely is situational.”
Below, check out Benedetto’s process for creating the shoe and also his response to the cease and desist.
