Louboutin miss out on red- sole injunction against YSL
Christian Louboutin has had his request for a primliminary injuction denied by court this week.
The row involves other fashion power house Yves Saint Laurent and would prevent the designer brand from selling their red-soled shoes in its 2011 resort collection.
Louboutin are renowned for their red-soled shoes and fee
l that this is part of their recognised design and deserves to be trademarked.
The court however, disagreed and Judge Victor Marrero wrote in its ruling: "Because in the fashion industry colour serves ornamental and aesthetic functions vital to robust competition, the court finds that Louboutin is unlikely to be able to prove that its red outsole brand is entitled to trademark protection, even if it has gained enough public recognition in the market to have acquired secondary meaning."
Given the fast paced nature of fashion, where colours and patterns come in and out so frequently, it is considered that to trademark a colour would not be fair to the rest of the industry as essentially they may argue that Louboutin 'own' the colour red.
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