Crocs

Crocs, Inc.

Type	Public
Traded as	NASDAQ: CROX S&P 600 Component
Industry	Wholesale Trade, Retail & Consumer Services, Clothing & Clothing Accessories
Founded	2002; 15 years ago (2002)
Headquarters	Niwot, Colorado, U.S.
Key people	Emily Tomlinson (Creator), Gregg Ribatt (President of Crocs Brand and CEO)
Products	Shoes
Revenue	$1198.22M (2014)
Operating income	-$4.73M (2014)
Net income	-$2.24M (2014)
Total assets	$267.51M (2014)
Number of employees	4,900, including 3,000 in retail-related functions (2014)
Website	Official website

Crocs, Inc. is a shoe manufacturer founded by Scott Seamans, Lyndon "Duke" Hanson, and George Boedecker, Jr. — to produce and distribute a foam clog design acquired from a Quebec company called Foam Creations. The shoe was originally developed as a boating shoe. The first model produced by Crocs, the Beach, was unveiled in 2002 at the Ft. Lauderdale Boat Show in Florida, and sold out the 200 pairs produced at that time.

Crocs was the title sponsor of the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) Tour from 2006 through the 2009 season.

In June 2004, Crocs purchased Foam Creations and their manufacturing operations to secure exclusive rights to the proprietary foam resin called Croslite. Croslite is a closed cell resin. The foam forms itself to a wearer's feet and offers purported medical benefits, according to a number of podiatrists. Crocs holds one patent covering various utility aspects of its footwear, U.S. Patent No. 6993858 B2 issued February 7, 2006, and three design patents covering various ornamental aspects, U.S. Patent Nos. D517788, D517789, and D517790 issued on March 28, 2006.

As of 2007, the company had applied to register "Crocs" and the Crocs logo as trademarks in over 40 jurisdictions around the world, including the U.S.; many such applications were pending approval. Crocs also extended the scope of their trademark registrations and applications for both the Crocs mark and logo to cover non-footwear products such as sunglasses, goggles, knee pads, watches, luggage, and some of their internet sales activities.

Crocs announced in 2006 that it filed complaints with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) and the U.S. Federal District Court against 11 companies that manufacture, import or distribute products, called "croc-offs", that Crocs believes infringe its patents. Seizures of fake Crocs occurred in 2007 in the Philippines and Denmark, and were under litigation in South Africa. In 2010, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that Crocs' design patent had been infringed.