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ARTICLE · 25 JUNE 2013

The Katten Kattwalk – Spring 2013

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Welcome to the second issue of The Katten Kattwalk, our quarterly newsletter that discusses relevant legal issues within the fashion industry.

United StatesIntellectual Property
Karen Artz Ash
Karen Artz Ash
Bret Danow
Bret Danow
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Questions Left Unanswered by Louboutin Case

The most highly anticipated case in the fashion world in 2012 was Christian Louboutin v. Yves Saint Laurent, in which footwear designer Christian Louboutin sued design house Yves Saint Laurent over footwear incorporating a red sole, claiming that it infringed Louboutin's trademark registration covering a lacquered red sole on footwear.

An April ruling by the USPTO finally put an end to this case, the net impact of which may be more noteworthy not for the questions it answered but for the questions that it left open.

As part of its ruling, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ordered the USPTO to modify Louboutin's trademark registration to narrow its scope. In April, the USPTO issued a corrected certifi­cate of registration that revised the coverage from a "lacquered red sole of footwear" to a "red lacquered outsole on footwear that contrasts with the color of the adjoining ("upper") portion of the shoe."

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