I created this pair of shoes form my Artsproject store on Zazzle. They refused to place it because the "design contains text or images of a competitor's names, logos, image and/or design." When I questioned them about it, I was told that my "custom shoe design infringes upon Vans Inc.'s intellectual property rights. Vans owns the trademark on checkered pattern shoes, so we are unable to approve any custom Keds designs which feature a checkered pattern." I was able to pointed out several examples of other custom design shoes in the Zazzle store that violated this policy.
In my searches, I haven't found that Vans actually owns the trademark on the checkerboard pattern on shoes. Furthermore, even if they did, I don't think my design violates their rights. I've tried to push the design through three times. In the long run, it's really not worth fighting for. Time to move on and design something else.
