HandsFree Labs (HFL), the company behind “hands-free” footwear brand Kizik, has sued Skechers for patent infringement, claiming that Skechers knowingly and willfully copied HFL’s patented technologies for its line of Hands Free Slip-ins footwear.
HFL holds more than 200 issued and pending patents globally dating back more than 15 years, and has licensed that technology to brands including Nike, but Skechers is not one of them. HFL claims that “Skechers launched its own hands-free line without communicating or licensing [with HFL], instead promoting its ‘Heel Pillow’ system as proprietary and ‘exclusive.’”
The 22-page complaint — filed late Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas and reviewed by Retail TouchPoints — levels scathing accusations against Skechers that go well beyond a single case of infringement, the most inflammatory being that Skechers’ business model relies on “shamelessly copying the innovations of others.” As proof, HFL points to previous lawsuits on behalf of Adidas and Nike as well as analyst commentary on Skechers’ penchant for “stealing other brands’ designs.”
The complaint also attempts to draw a line between the growing success of Skechers’ Slip-ins range and its recent $9.42 billion acquisition by 3G Capital, claiming that slip-in shoes now account for approximately 35% of the products on the Skechers website, and that the “astonishing growth” of the line “fueled the windfall [deal].”
Advertisement
Kizik: The Real Threat is to ‘Innovation Itself’
Skechers first debuted its Slip-ins range in 2023 and promoted the line with a high-profile Super Bowl ad featuring Snoop Dogg, Martha Stewart, Tony Romo and Howie Long. Skechers’ partnership with Snoop is continuing to pay dividends, with the latest version of the campaign ranking among the top-performing retail ads of the first half of 2025.
“This isn’t just a product Skechers copied, it’s a category we created,” said Gareth Hosford, CEO of HFL in a statement. “From the start, our mission was clear — to revolutionize how people put on their shoes. We believed this everyday task could be easier, faster and more convenient. We poured our energy into developing the technology to solve a real-world problem and make hands-free shoes a reality. We’re now forced to defend that work against a company that chose to imitate rather than innovate.
“The real danger here isn’t just to our company, it’s to innovation itself,” Hosford added. “When billion-dollar brands can openly copy protected technologies and profit from doing so with no consequences, it sends a dangerous message to every entrepreneur, engineer and inventor: Your work doesn’t matter. We can’t accept that, and we won’t.”
Skechers had not responded to a request for comment as of press time.
