Don’t step on Louboutin’s red-soled shoes
Colour isn’t covered by limits on trademark protection, EU court says
French designer Christian Louboutin won a fight over trademark protection for his iconic red-soled stiletto shoes. The ruling by the EU Court of Justice in Luxembourg yesterday said the sole’s colour isn’t covered by limits on trademark protection for the shapes of products.
EU trademark law includes such a ban when the shapes are purely functional.
“A mark consisting of a colour applied to the red sole of a shoe is not covered by the prohibition of the registration of shapes,” the EU judges said in their binding decision.
The case will go back to a Dutch court that had sought the EU tribunal’s advice in a dispute between the French fashion designer and a Dutch retail shoe shop that started selling red-soled women’s shoes, arguing that Louboutin should never have gotten a trademark protection in the first place.
The ruling strengthens Louboutin’s red sole trademark protection, the French company said in a statement. “For 26 years, the red sole has enabled the public to attribute the origin of the shoe to its creator.”