Posts Tagged ‘lawsuit’

Talk about scandals of 2011 and this will no doubt will be on the list next to that of John Galliano and Christian Dior.

Who owns the red shoe sole?

Can you tell the difference?

The famous French footwear designer Christian Louboutin has entered into a litigation war with iconic french couture house Yves Saint Laurent, for what it claims to be infringement on the use of their ”red sole” design on shoes.

According to business week “Louboutin, based in Paris, said Yves Saint Laurent is selling shoes with red soles that are “virtually identical” to its own, according to a suit filed today in federal court in Manhattan. It seeks a court injunction against the sale of the shoes and damages of at least $1 million.”

So far Yves Saint Laurent , the company that is now owned by Paris-based PPR,  has no comments. Let’s see what evolves as the weeks progress.

Yves Saint Laurent passed away in 2008.

And again in the latest fashion courtroom battle, Payless Shoe Source has been ordered to stop using the American Eagle Brand. Which is very similar to American Eagle Outfitters brand(AEO).

Payless is marketing AMERICAN EAGLE shoes and accessories with advertising and promotional materials that copy the look and feel of AEO’s distinctive marketing style and falsely claiming to be the exclusive source of AMERICAN EAGLE and AE “women’s,” “men’s” and “accessories,” which has resulted in consumer confusion as to the relationship between Payless and AEO. Source

We’ll we’re not lawyers are anything here at TooCute magazine, but this just one just makes sense. My questions are, why did they wait this long to let people know its not actually American Eagle Outfitters, but Payless’ American Eagle? And why was Payless so brazen as to think they could get away with this blatant misrepresentation?

Copyright laws have long been a joke within the fashion industry, but where should a line be drawn and people be brought to court?

Stores like Payless, Steve Madden, Forever21 and even H&M have all been known to make their “interpretation” of a particular brand or designers style. Judging by the popularity of these stores it just goes to show that customers care less and less about high priced brand names and just want a quick fashion fix with cheaply made knockoffs.

More on the story here.