Copycat 'trademark infringement' lawsuits teeter a precarious line between being a rational, sensible legal maneouver to a downright petty, egomaniacal ruse. Step-up Christian Louboutin who is casually flinging legal papers in the direction of any brand who so dares to coat their shoes with a lick of red paint.    

It began with last week's announcement of suing - not so much a bargain-basement plagiarizer - but fellow luxury peer, Yves Saint Laurent. A peeptoe Tribute pump in their spring/summer 2011 collection just so happens to have a red sole, and given that the collection features purple pumps with purple soles, navy with navy soles, we think Louboutin is kinda getting a bit trigger happy with this 'copycat' nonsense.

His legal team argue, "The defendants use of red footwear outsoles that are virtually identical to plaintiff'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."

Oh for fuck's sake; the contours of The Tribute shoe are eons apart from that of Louboutin's - aside from whatever this ambiguous 'Red Sole Mark' legally entitles him to, there is a fundamental difference between a cheapo label out to deceive the public knocking out two-a-penny ripoff's than a peer brand following a colour-block theme in a collection.

Which brings us nicely to today's announcement: next in line in court is Brazilian label Carmen Steffen's, a company who are fighting back claiming, like, they were totally making red-soled shoes before he trademarked it in 1996.

"Carmen Steffens France is confident in its position regarding the brand's long-standing use of colour on the soles of some styles of Carmen Steffens shoes, including the infrequent use of various tones of red," says president of US operations, Mark Willingham. "Of the 250 styles in Carmen Steffens France's current collection, only three styles utilise red tones on their soles."

Christian, we heart your sexy footwear but get a) a grip and b) your pompous, arrogant head out of your sphincter. Wanna go after the real copycats? Well while you're at it sue New Look, Topshop, Faith, Aldo and Forever 21 (not to mention the actual Chinese Louboutin knock-offs); all of whom have deliberately produced cheap, red-soled footwear intentionally aping yours. To target - essentially - competitors over trivial irrational coincidences is hyper-sensitive a best, and deludedly egomaniacal at worst.

For those ladies who need wide-fitting shoes, head over to K&Co where they stock a great range of shoes to fit all foot sizes!

Posted on April 12, 2011 at 4:33:52 by The Real Runway