First, I would like to mention two interesting “trivia” facts that I recently learned about Christian Louboutin before entertaining you with the Complaint and Answer of Louboutin vs. YSL. (1) Louboutin has been around since 1991 and (2) Louboutin came out with a shoe collection for Barbie’s in 2010. Both of these facts stun me because I cannot believe that beautiful shoes such as Louboutins would take so long to become popular and secondly, I cannot believe that a Barbie collector would really spend $65 on a pair of shoes for a Barbie.

Now switching the focus onto the main subject, which is the Complaint that was filed on behalf of Louboutin verse YSL on April 7, 2011. In this document, the plaintiff,Louboutin is suing YSL for trademark infringement of their very popular “lacquered red soles” which were trademarked in the beginning of 2008. The representatives of Louboutin noticed in January of 2011 that YSL has started to sell shoes with an almost identical red sole, which was likely to cause confusion among retailers regarding the origin and source of the infringing footwear. This complaint includes Seven (7) different Counts of violations against YSL.

This week, YSL’s attorneys filed a two-part Answer to Louboutin’s charges, asserting that no one can prove that YSL’s use of red soles hurt Louboutin’s sales or caused any consumer confusion. In addition, they contended that Louboutin never should have been granted a trademark for those red soles anyway, stating that “We just don’t think that any fashion designer should be able to monopolize any color”. How is that logical?
If companies such as Louboutin would not be afforded protection for their very popular red soles, then how should unique designers protect their unique designs from counterfeiters and pirates? Isn’t it obvious that if Christian Louboutin would not be granted a trademark for their red sole, the companies’ high end name would be demolished by copycats once it became a hot commodity? Hence, the designers’ talent would be exploited for ones eagerness to make fast cash. Let’s see if the court agrees with me!