Crocs Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX) shares are plummeting again this morning after news came out on Friday that the company's attempt to patent its uniquely-styled shoes in Europe may be unsuccessful. The European Union's Office for Harmonization in the International Market ruled in December that CROX's Beach model shoes "lack individual character" compared with other similar brands, according to a Forbes.com article published Friday evening. The ruling struck a blow, as CROX now faces more difficulty in pushing out its competitors in Europe. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on CROX.

After hitting a one-year low of $21.675 in March, the stock hit a one-year high of $75.21 in October. This morning, CROX opened at $32.76. So far today the stock has hit a low of $27.64 and a high of $32.96. As of 10:50, CROX is trading at $28.41, down $4.34 (-13.2%). The chart for CROX looks bearish and steady.

For a bearish hedged play on this stock, I would consider a March bear-call credit spread above the $45 range. A bear-call credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of call options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we will make a 7.5% return in 11 weeks as long as CROX is below $45 at March expiration. Crocs would have to rise by more than 56% before we would start to lose money.

CROX hasn't been above $45 since late October and has shown resistance around $39 recently. This trade could be risky if Crocs gets some good news that balances out this patent problem, but even if that happens, this position could be protected by resistance CROX might find at its 200 day moving average, which is currently around $45.

Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer. DISCLOSURE: Mr. Archer owns and/or controls diversified portfolios of long and short stock and option positions that may include holdings in companies he writes about. At publication time, Brent neither owns nor controls positions in CROX.