Christian Louboutin filed a lawsuit Thursday accusing rival French fashion house Yves Saint Laurent of ripping off its signature red-soled stilleto mark.
Louboutin says the placement of the bright sole under the pump "is said to provide an alluring 'flash of red' when a woman walks down the street" and argues that the red sole has become synonymous with "Christian Louboutin and high fashion"
Louboutin has used the mark since 1992 and obtained a federal trademark for the red soles after the USPTO determined that the mark had "acquired distinctiveness based on its continuous use in commerce, the considerable media attention featuring the Red Sole Mark, [...] and the considerable sales of Louboutin footwear bearing the Red Sole Mark."
Beginning in 2011, YSL began marketing a line of shoes bearing "outsoles that were identical and/or highly similar" to its trademarked red soles, according to the complaint. The suit is seeking statutory damages of $1 million.
Continue reading "Christian Louboutin Sues YSL Over Signature Red Soles" »
The White House released a white paper earlier this month recommending sharper sentancing guidelines for certain intellectual property offenses. The recommendations are part of an effort to "increase the effectiveness of U.S. enforcement efforts." The adminstration has recommended stronger penalties in five areas:
1. Increase the U.S. Sentencing Guideline range for the theft of trade secrets and economic espio- nage, including trade secrets transferred or attempted to be transferred outside of the U.S.;
2. Increase the U.S. Sentencing Guideline range for trademark and copyright offenses when infringing products are knowingly sold for use in national defense, national security, critical infrastructure, or by law enforcement.
3. Increase the U.S. Sentencing Guideline range for intellectual property offenses committed by organized criminal enterprises/gangs;
4. Increase the U.S. Sentencing Guideline range for intellectual property offenses that risk death or serious bodily injury and for those offenses involving counterfeit drugs (even when those offenses do not present that risk); and
5. Increase the U.S. Sentencing Guideline range for repeat intellectual property offenders
The agency also seeks to create a new right of public performance for copyright owners for sound recordings transmitted by over-the-air broadcast stations, which would allow copyright owners to obtain more overseas royalties.
View the full White House report here.
Image courtesy of Stock.exchng.
The Intellectual Property Law Association of Brooklyn Law School
