What about that case where Christian Louboutin sued Yves St. Laurent — or YSL –for Trademark infringement of its red sole shoe trademark? A number of years ago, Christian Louboutin, who makes those iconic red soled shoes, sued Yves Saint Laurent (hereafter YSL) for Trademark infringement. So what was the basis for Louboutin’s claims against Yves Saint Laurent? YSL were making a shoe that was entirely red, including the sole, and Louboutin has a trademark registration on the red lacquered sole. Louboutin objected to YSL’s use, because Louboutin is the owner of the red sole trademark, and YSL’s shoes also used the red sole. The two parties tried to work it out, but they couldn’t, so eventually, they ended up in court.
So what did the court say? The court said inasmuch as the use of the trademark is a contrasting sole, Christian Louboutin has trademark rights, but they don’t have the right to exclude other manufacturers from making an entirely red shoe that includes the red sole. The court limited the scope of Louboutin’s trademark rights to a contrasting red sole, not where the entire shoe, including the sole, was red.
This is the Louboutin shoe on the right. You can see that there is a contrast between the upper, which is a black patent and the sole, which is red. So the Louboutin shoes, it doesn’t matter what color the upper is, the sole is always red, and that’s what is the subject of the Louboutin trademark. On the left is the YSL shoe. This happens to be the red suede version of the shoe; they also made a purple version.
The Supreme Court ruled that because the entire shoe was made of the same color material and there was no contrasting sole, even though the sole was red, because it didn’t contrast with the upper that made YSL’s use not a trademark infringement. The court really narrowed the issue and said, listen, if you want to protect your right to make a contrasting red sole on your shoes, fine. Perfect. We will give you that trademark right. It’s registered with the Trademark Office. But you can’t prevent other people from making a shoe that’s entirely red, including the sole, where the sole and the upper don’t have a contrast. The Court limited the Louboutin trademark rights by this ruling, and we haven’t really heard much from Louboutin about this issue since.
So I hope this helps you understand a little bit more about trademark law. If you have trademark law questions, drop them into the comments below a video, and I’ll answer them on a future live video. You can find me online at TrademarkDoctor.net. I have a YouTube channel with all sorts of trademark and copyright law information. YouTube Like and subscribe to get all of my newest trademark and copyright videos.
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