Court ruling boosts Louboutin in trademark fight
13/06/2018
It is the latest, and perhaps most important, stage in a long-running case brought by Mr Louboutin against Dutch company Van Haren.
In 2013, a Dutch court ruled that Van Haren must stop manufacturing and selling blue and black high-heeled shoes with red soles. The case came down to whether a shape includes colour (in this case the red sole on a high-heeled shoe). The court ruled in favour of Louboutin, with the subsequent appeal process reaching the ECJ.
Louboutin's trademark covers "the colour red (Pantone 18 1663TP) applied to the sole of a shoe". Van Haren has argued that the trademark is invalid because EU law does not allow trademarks that consist solely of "the shape that gives substantial value to the goods".
In a statement released on June 12, the ECJ said: “The mark does not relate to a specific shape of sole for high-heeled shoes since the description of that mark explicitly states that the contour of the shoe does not form part of the mark and is intended purely to show the positioning of the red colour covered by the registration.”
This ruling went against the advice of ECJ advocate general Maciej Szpunar, who said in February that the red colour could not be considered as being separate from the shape of the sole.
In response to the ECJ ruling, the Louboutin brand said: “The protection of Christian Louboutin’s red sole trademark is strengthened by the European Court of Justice. 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 court in The Hague is now expected to confirm the validity of Louboutin’s red sole trademark, paving the way for the brand to protect its distinctive style.
Share this story:
