Sneakers

Skechers U.S.A. Inc., a maker of sneakers, boots and other shoes, is suing Willets Footwear Worldwide Inc., alleging the shoemaker used the design for Sport Energy sneakers to make cheap imitations. Skechers said it has a patent for the athletic sneaker, popularized with ads featuring pop singer Britney Spears. It said Halifax, Pa.-based Willets infringed on patented designs for the bottom of the shoe and the upper to make cheaper versions, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S.

The adjustment was small, but the payoff proved hefty. In the USC men's basketball team's first half against UC Irvine on Saturday, junior forward Nikola Vucevic knew the Anteaters would double-team him any time he touched the ball. But instead of being aggressive, the 6-foot-10, 260-pound Vucevic looked to pass, which explains his paltry halftime stats: two points on one-for-three shooting. In the second half of USC's 62-49 win, though, Vucevic scored 17 points, including nine of the Trojans' first 13 after intermission, to finish with a career-high-tying 19. What changed?

Foot injuries are a runaway problem in the National Basketball Assn. this season, sending to the sidelines stars such as Michael Jordan, Darrell Griffith, Andrew Toney and Bill Cartwright. Experts think it's because they run hard, play hard and sometimes their shoes don't fit. "I think the shoe has to be a contributing factor to injuries," said Dr. Norman Scott, the New York Knicks' team physician. "It is a difficult problem because nearly all the players have sneaker contracts.

Men have discovered what the ladies have known all along. Now, more than ever, it's all about your shoes. "And it's about high time. Women have had a blast with shoes for years," says Jim Moore, GQ's creative director. "I think it's the most exciting category in menswear at the moment. It's a huge focus for us," says Terry Betts, buying manager for London-based online retailer Mr. Porter. And the trade paper Footwear News reported recently, "Men's footwear is on fire at retail, thanks to style twists on old classics," citing updates like pops of color, vintage details and distressed finishes that are making traditional silhouettes look fresh.

The Celine store opened on Rodeo Drive last weekend not with a shout, but with a whisper, which is appropriate for the LVMH-owned fashion brand that helped usher minimalism back into fashion under the direction of press-shy designer Phoebe Philo. There was no Champagne-soaked, celebrity-studded opening bash to celebrate the new arrival at 319 N. Rodeo Drive, and no press release blasted to the four corners. Just a few discreet advertisements and billboards around town announcing the new store would be coming in March.

The richest of the rich in America is worth $2.8 billion, while the poorest of the rich checks in at a mere $150 million. But who's counting? Forbes magazine, that's who, and its 1985 list of the nation's 400 richest people is topped by Sam Moore Walton of Bentonville, Ark., who has made $2.8 billion through his Wal-Mart discount stores. Walton, who danced a hula on Wall Street last year when profit goals were met, replaced Gordon Getty, the front-runner for the past two years.

James Van Doren and his older brother Paul had only sample sneakers to offer when they opened their first store, in Anaheim, in 1966. They took a dozen orders in the morning and delivered custom canvas deck shoes, made in their adjacent factory, in the afternoon. Operating as the Van Doren Rubber Co., the brothers and two other co-founders planned to succeed by cutting out the middleman and selling their distinctive thick rubber-soled shoes directly to the public. By the early 1970s, the company owed some of its success to Southern California's burgeoning skateboard culture.

Pingpong tables, employees in sandals, software code scrawled on the walls, a bounce house in the lobby. No, it's not a Silicon Valley tech company. Rather, it's a scene from one of several new tech-focused office buildings in Southern California where dozens of start-ups are setting up shop and sharing the work space. In a unique feature of the region's Silicon Beach, walls in more buildings are being knocked down to create open spaces where start-ups cohabit and employees mingle with one another, attend seminars and occasionally party.

So, what's it worth to lace up those sneakers and break a sweat for about 30 minutes a day? About 3.5 extra years of life, on average - and about 4.2 additional years for those willing to step up the intensity or put in closer to an hour a day of brisk walking or its equivalent, according to a new study. Even for the severely obese - those with a body mass index above 35 - exercising for about 2.5 hours a week at moderate intensity or for 75 minutes at vigorous levels puts average life expectancy a notch above that of a normal-weight person who is sedentary, the research shows.