Christian Louboutin Loses Another Red Sole Lawsuit To Zara

Christian Louboutin

CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN has lost a lawsuit against Zara, been ordered to pay £2,300 ($3,600) to the high street retailer. First Christian Louboutin accused Yves Saint Laurent of mimicking the scarlet signature of his famous shoes, then Jessica Simpson was under attack for copying his famous designs before a lawsuit was filed against Zara for the very same thing. Now WWD reports that a French judge ruled in favour of the high street chain, giving it the green light to sell their red-soled shoes.

L-Christian Louboutin's YoYo Zeppa slingback R-Zara's open toe similar slingback

The case began in June 2008 when Louboutin sued Zara for selling an open-toed shoe £40 which closely resembled their £400 YoYo Zeppa creation. Louboutin won the suit, but  Zara hit back with an appeal in 2011, citing there was no way that a customer would confuse the two.back by filing an appeal on the grounds that Louboutin's trademark registration was too vague and there was no proven risk of confusion between the two pairs of heels. The court agreed and ruled in favour of Zara, France’s final court of appeal the Cour de Cassation sentenced Louboutin to pay approximately £2,320 as compensation in it's ruling.

Louboutin general manager, Alexis Mourot, told WWD the footwear company would continue to defend its sartorial signature and is not backing down. “Another red sole trademark application has been successfully registered and we will enforce this trademark against any infringers.”

Zara's similar open toe slingbacks

As the shoe maestro said himself while in conversation with Grazia's Paula Reed, he has made shoes with scarlet soles since 1992 after seeing an assistant painting her nails red. An official trademark for the red sole was awarded in 2008 with the brand arguing that customers should not be put in the potentially befuddling position of not knowing whether a shoe is a genuine Louboutin or not.

During the YSL case, however, Judge Victor Marrero argued that no one designer should place a colour off limits for other brands. Comparing the rival shoemakers to artists Picasso and Monet, he said, 'every painter and designer in producing artful works enjoys equal freedom to pick and choose colour from every streak of the rainbow.'

additional content: WWD & Grazia

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» Jessica Simpson copyright Infringement with Christian Louboutin
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