NEWS Louboutin sues over confusing shoes
Te shoe designer released the world’s first lacquered red footwear outsole in 1992, according to the complaint, and the red-soled shoes are now sold through US department stores, Christian Louboutin boutiques and online stores.
A luxury fashion house’s red-soled women’s shoes are “virtually identical” to those sold by Christian Louboutin’s chain of boutique shoe stores, the shoe designer has claimed.
Louboutin filed the trademark infringement complaint against Yves Saint Laurent, a subsidiary of the Gucci Group, in the US District Court of the Southern District of New York on April 7.
Te complaint said: “[Yves Saint Laurent’s] use of red footwear outsoles that are virtually identical to [Louboutin’s] red sole mark is likely to cause and is causing confusion, mistake and deception among the relevant purchasing public as to the origin of the Infringing Footwear...”
Te US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) awarded a trademark for the red sole to Louboutin in 2008.
Te USPTO deemed the red sole distinctive enough to receive trademark protection because it had received considerable media attention and consumers associated it with the Louboutin brand, according to the complaint.
Te complaint added: “[Louboutin’s] use of the red sole mark on women’s designer luxury footwear has been substantially exclusive in the United States for the almost two decades commencing in 1992 to date.”
Louboutin is seeking an injunction that will prevent Yves Saint Laurent from using its red sole trademark and $1 million in damages.
USPTO welcomes public comment on patent re-examination
Te US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) aims to streamline the procedures governing ex parte and inter partes patent re-examination proceedings with a proposal that it has made available for public comment.
Te proposal was announced on April 25 and additional details were made available through the day’s edition of the Federal Register.
Te USPTO wants to reduce the time it takes to resolve disputes over validity issues between patent owners and the public.
A proposed change to both ex parte and inter partes patent re-examination proceedings would see a patent re-examination requester’s declaration and other evidence limited to the request itself.
Te Federal Register stated: “
Tis...is intended to encourage compact prosecution by requiring the Requester to submit all necessary evidence in the initial request and thereby reduce the need for later submissions.
8 World Intellectual Property Review May/June 2011
www.worldipreview.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84