No Infringement Intended: What the ‘Cooler Wars’ Teach Us About the Limits of Patent Protection

Picture this: It’s a scorching summer day. You’re at the pool, cold drink in hand, music playing, with your gear lined up. The cooler, the chair, the Bluetooth speaker. For a lot of people, that cooler is a YETI. Or is it? A decade ago, if you looked closely, you might’ve noticed an almost identical cooler, same shape, same rubber latches, but a different name: RTIC. And it was half the price of YETI, as they advertised widely.

Behind the insulated walls of those premium containers was a much hotter fight over patents.

Numerous consumer brands have famously navigated patent infringement cases with competitors. More recently, shoe brand Crocs finally resolved a multiyear long legal battle with Dawgs over alleged patent infringement tied to its signature foam clogs. Much like YETI, Crocs invested heavily in innovation and brand development, only to encounter a competitor enter the market with something suspiciously similar. And like YETI, Crocs couldn’t claim exclusive rights to the concept of their product, in this case, a casual foam clog. Instead, Crocs focused on specific features of the shoe, like the pivoting strap.

In such a highly competitive landscape, brands like YETI and Crocs navigate through a dense “thicket” of intellectual property protections, which typically include patents that strive to safeguard the brand’s unique innovations amidst a sea of imitators.

What’s in a Thicket?

In the world of intellectual property law, finding a perfect or straightforward mechanism of protection is often elusive. Companies employ a multi-faceted approach, utilizing patents, trademarks, trade dress, and copyrights, in the hopes of deterring or blocking copycats. However, these “thickets” don’t always have the intended effect.

Back in 2015, YETI had built a reputation for rugged, high-end outdoor products. It also had a carefully constructed IP portfolio, or a thicket. When RTIC entered the market with lookalike coolers at bargain prices, YETI responded with a lawsuit. But here’s the twist: YETI wasn’t claiming exclusive rights to the cooler itself. Instead, it was suing RTIC over their use of rubberized latches, the little T-shaped pull tabs that lock the lid in place.

So, what does a patent actually protect? Contrary to popular belief, a patent does not grant the holder the right to manufacture or sell a product. Instead, it gives the owner the legal authority to exclude others from producing or selling the patented invention, thereby safeguarding the inventor’s innovations. And in this case, it gave YETI the right to exclude RTIC from selling coolers with those rubberized, T-shaped latches.

The Narrow Scope of Patent Protection

This specificity of patent protection often surprises people. Most hear that YETI has patents and just assume those patents cover the coolers they sell, and that they prevent others from selling similar coolers. But often the scope of patents is far narrower. In YETI’s case, their patents were limited to the latch details – not the cooler, insulation, or the overall design, but specifically the rubberized component that flexes and snaps back into place. Consequently, while YETI could assert its patent rights against competitors selling coolers with their patented latches, it could not prevent competitors from selling coolers that were identical in every way except for the latches. Patent enforcement often hinges on the fine print rather than the broader picture.

How it Went Down

Ultimately, YETI’s case against RTIC didn’t go to trial. The companies reached a settlement in which RTIC paid an undisclosed sum and agreed to redesign its products. Notably, YETI didn’t, or perhaps couldn’t, assert broader design patents on the cooler shape itself. Such protection was absent from the lawsuit and may not have been available.

That may have been a strategic choice. YETI might have assessed the competitive landscape early on and concluded that broad patents on the overall cooler concept were unlikely to withstand scrutiny. Instead of chasing sweeping claims, the company focused on what was realistically protectable: specific elements like the rubberized latches, and also built a thicket around their coolers that included their trademarks and trade dress. YETI also invested heavily in its branding, marketing, and product design. By doing so, it created a overlapping web of protections, including its narrow but defensible slice of patent protection, enabling it to assert its rights and push competitors to make changes.

What Can Businesses Do?

If you’re a company looking to protect your next big product idea, the “Cooler Wars” offer us a few key takeaways:

• Start with patents but know their limits. Patents are only as strong as their claims. They can stop copycats from mimicking specific components, but rarely the entire concept.
• Layer up. Use patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade dress, and trade secrets to build a thicket of protection. The overlap is your advantage.
• Expect competition. If you’re products are successful (what a problem to have!), competitors will find ways to work around whatever protections you’ve managed to put in place. The goal isn’t total exclusion, it’s deterrence and leverage.

One of the primary challenges facing innovators today is determining how best to protect their creations. As the weather warms and coolers emerge, remember that the seemingly simple box beside your chair might be at the heart of a very complex legal narrative.