Flipkart Offers US Footwear Brand Skechers Out-Of-Court Settlement In Fake Products Case

In December 2017, Skechers had accused Flipkart and four of its sellers of selling fake 'Skechers' products

One of Flipkart's biggest sellers — MarcoWagon — is also a suspect in the case

Marco Wagon, in turn, accused Flipkart of making it import Skechers shoes from suppliers in China

Six months after filing a case against Flipkart, US-based footwear brand Skechers has been offered an out-of-court settlement by the Walmart-backed company.

“Flipkart has offered some cash payment and a commitment to do a certain amount of business for Skechers as an offer to settle out of court,” said a person aware of the matter to ET.

An email sent to both Flipkart and Skechers did not elicit any response till the time of publication.

Flipkart Vs Skechers: What’s The Case?

Here is the series of events leading up to Flipkart’s offer for an out-of-court settlement to Skechers:

• In December 2017, Skechers filed cases in the Delhi high court against online sellers for selling fake products under the Skechers brand name
• The accused included Flipkart and four of its sellers — Retail Net, Tech Connect, Unichem Logistics, and MarcoWagon
• Earlier, Skechers, with the help of court-appointed local commissioners, raided seven warehouses of the sellers in Delhi and Ahmedabad
• 15,000 pairs of fake ‘Skechers’ shoes were found during the raids

At that point in time, Skechers had issued a statement that said: “Flipkart is an online marketplace that helps sellers connect with customers across the country, We only act as an intermediary. We conduct our business with the highest standards of integrity and are fully compliant with all the rules of the land. We cannot comment on the current issue as it is sub-judice.

Earlier, an investigation by News18 revealed that 60% of the sports goods and 40% of the apparel being sold in online “sales” on ecommerce platforms such as Flipkart, Shopclues, and Snapdeal were fake. The report said that manufacturers of fakes and counterfeit sellers were using “loopholes in the Information Technology Act to sell such products while online retailers were shrugging off responsibility by claiming to be intermediaries.”