Louboutin wins court case over red-soled shoes.

French luxury shoe designer Christian Louboutin won the support of Europe’s highest court on Tuesday over trademarking his signature red-soled high-heeled shoes.

Louboutin took Dutch shoe maker Van Haren to court in the Netherlands after Van Haren sold similar shoes, and the case was then referred to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), the EU’s top court.

Paris-based Louboutin has marketed the red-bottomed shoes for more than a quarter of a century and the glam footwear was featured on the consumerism-worshipping television series Sex and the City.

“I can confirm that Louboutin won the case. The Dutch company has to respect the trademark,” a representative of the ECJ said.

The French shoe maker hailed the decision as a “victory for the Maison Christian Louboutin”.

The years-long, arcane legal dispute centred on whether Louboutin’s trademark involved a shape or a colour under EU law. Louboutin filed a trademark in 2010 and then took the Dutch company to court when it started selling high-heeled redsoled women’s shoes in 2012 at its outlets in the Netherlands.

The Dutch company argued that European regulations say shapes by themselves cannot be registered as trademarks, and the Dutch court referred the issue to the ECJ.

Louboutin argued that the use of a colour — in this case a red pigment called Pantone 18 1663TP — can be trademarked and that the “shape” in question was just a way of showing where the colour is located on the bottom of the shoe.

Judges in Luxembourg on Tuesday rejected the official advice of their own top lawyer, who said in February that the red soles could not be trademarked.

Dutch judges must now make a final decision but the Louboutin company welcomed the decision.

“It’s a clear victory and a great satisfaction,” a Louboutin spokeswoman told AFP.

The French shoe maker said that the EU court had “confirmed that the legal regime governing shape trademarks does not apply to Christian Louboutin’s red sole mark.

“The red colour applied on the sole of a woman’s high heel shoe is a position mark, as Maison Christian Louboutin has maintained for many years,” the spokeswoman said.

Louboutin has faced a series of legal battles over its distinctive soles.

A Paris appeals court in May ruled against French shoe company Kesslord after it sold redbottomed shoes and ordered it to pay €7,500 in damages to Louboutin.

“The ECJ has, in the same way as the Paris appeals court, ruled that the application of a colour in a specific position on a product is a distinct and protected trademark,” said intellectual-property lawyer Vanessa Bouchara.