Paris-born fashion designer Christian Louboutin is trying to secure trade-mark protection for the signature red flash he puts on the soles of his footwear creations.

 

Mr Louboutin has been using the idea since 1992, but became embroiled in a legal tussle with US footwear brand Oh Dear over what he saw as an attempt to copy it.

 

According to press reports, he told the US Trademark Office: "The shiny red colour of the soles has no function other than to identify to the public that the shoes are mine. It attracts men to the women who wear my shoes."