They said/We said: And the battle of the red sole rages on

And the case of the infamous red soles continues. After Christian Louboutin was denied from keeping his signature-hued soles from use by Yves Saint Laurent in a ruling this past August, the designer has fired back. Louboutin claims that the colour is central to the brand’s DNA, and to help his argument, he garnered the support of Tiffany & Co., whose “Tiffany Blue” is similarly used.

Today, a brief filed in support of YSL has been filed by 11 Georgetown University law professors, stating: “This court should recognize that the shadow cast by a mark in a single color on a fashion item creates enormous uncertainty for other designers and should regard claims of single-color trademarks in fashion with considerable skepticism.” According to the brief, Louboutin’s attempt for sole ownership of the red soles “should be rejected in order to preserve freedom of innovation and competition.” We guess all’s fair in love and war in the world of overpriced footwear.

THEY SAID:

The Cut: “No comment from the lawyers on how the “particular meaning” of red-soled shoes may be forever altered by this case. By the time it’s done, it’s entirely possible no one will want them anymore” [Nymag]

British Vogue: “A woman who buys red shoes is doing so for a reason,” the brief argues. “Red shoes have a particular meaning to her, and to others, that cannot be supplied or even approximated by shoes of a different colour.” [Vogue UK]

WWD reports: “The professors said Louboutin and its supporters are arguing against the doctrine of “aesthetic functionality” which prevents companies from using “trademark as a kind of back door to perpetual patentlike protection for attractive but non-novel product features.…[If] the relevant consumers want a product feature because it is especially attractive, then that feature is not a proper subject of monopolization by a single producer — unless it meets the demanding novelty requirement of design patent.” [WWD]

WE SAID:

Jordan Porter, fashion market editor: “I understand and can appreciate parts of the dispute from both sides, but also see the argument resembling three-year-olds vying for the same toy on a playground. Is it bad that, in the end, what I really want to know about this whole ordeal is how many red-soled shoes I could have bought with the legal fees of those 11 lawyers?”

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