Can Christian Louboutin Trademark Red Soles? An E.U. Court Says No<br />That trademark, registered in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, referred to “the color red (Pantone 18 1663TP) applied to the sole of a shoe.”<br />Van Haren had to temporarily stop making and selling the line of shoes,<br />but the company’s lawyers fought back and the case eventually made its way to the European Court of Justice.<br />Maciej Szpunar, an advocate general for the court, said on Tuesday<br />that Mr. Louboutin’s red soles were not a separate entity from the shape of his high-heeled shoes, and shapes typically cannot be trademarked under European Union law.<br />In effect, he argued in a legal opinion, Mr. Louboutin’s red soles could be refused<br />trademark protection, sending the case back to Dutch courts to consider.<br />The French shoe designer Christian Louboutin — known for sky-high stiletto shoes with scarlet soles<br />that can sell for upward of $1,000 — has been trying to do so for years.<br />Mr. Louboutin had filed a lawsuit in 2012 against Van Haren, a Dutch company whose retail<br />outlets were selling affordably priced high-heeled women’s shoes with red soles.<br />Lawyers for Mr. Louboutin claimed that the shoes sold by Van Haren, part of its Fifth<br />Avenue by Halle Berry line, infringed on his brand’s trademark for footwear.
