preview

Louboutin 's Case Against Yves Saint Laurent

Better Essays
Open Document

Louboutin’s Case Against Yves Saint Laurent
• Introduction To get my point across to the court, I feel like we need to go over a few basic historical contexts of the Louboutin Shoe Company. Christian Louboutin is a high-end French fashion designer that uses red lacquered soles on his women’s shoes. He also sells other high-end items other than shoes like purses, wallets, and even items for men. First, I would like to state that Louboutin had his first debut in the shoe industry in 1992. His shoe design featured the red-soles we will be discussing throughout this case. He used these red soles to set his shoe design apart from many other shoe designers who often used black or beige soles. Louboutin wanted his shoes to stand out so he …show more content…

Christian Louboutin is a person. It must be used in commerce. Louboutin has his own company in which he sells these shoes in the market place. Therefore, consumers can obtain the product with the mark on it. The red soles do in fact help to identify and distinguish the goods within the market place because most shoe designers stick to a black or beige sole rather than red. They are also used as a source indicator because they have been used by Louboutin himself for many years. Louboutin was granted registration for his mark in 2008 when he applied and therefore has a trademark because he clearly meets all the requirements.
In case you would like to argue that Louboutin does not actually have a trademark after the facts I have already pointed out, the red sole mark has gained secondary meaning. Even though the trademark has met all the criteria to be considered a trademark some people may still be on the fence with it. The red sole mark has in fact acquired secondary meaning regardless. For it to have secondary meaning all it must do is have massive advertising from the person or company that is widespread enough to create a trademark in the consumers’ minds as a product source indicator. Also, the company or person must be using it continuously and exclusively for 5 years for it to obtain a secondary meaning. Louboutin has established this by using the red soles on all his shoes since he established his shoe line in 1992. Since he has used the red soles

Get Access
Related
Get Access