Follow usIn the Courtroom: Louis Vuitton
June 5, 2008
post written by Bag Bliss blogger: Jennifer
Louis Vuitton has been mentioned quite frequently in the news lately. Below is just a minor sampling of a few cases making headlines.
Dooney & Bourke Wins Ruling In Multicolore Bag Battle With Louis Vuitton
The battle is over. American teen-targeted fashion brand Dooney & Bourke just won a trademark battle with high-end fashion company Louis Vuitton, in a battle for the multicolore rights.
In April 2004, Louis Vuitton alleged that Dooney & Bourke’s “It Bag” line featuring a DB monogram infringed on its Monogram Multicolore handbag collection, which has a colorful LV monogram and was a collaboration with artist Takashi Murakami.
A Manhattan federal judge made the ruling that Dooney & Bourke’s “It Bag” monogram design in no way infringes on Vuitton’s Monogram Multicolore handbag collection.
Seriously, have you guys ever confused the two designs? Not only is the font different but also the coloring is not the same.
The judge in the case wrote in the decision that was issued, that Louis Vuitton “offered no proof that the similarities in the marks is likely to confuse ordinary consumers, whether it is at the point of initial interest, point-of-sale, or post-sale,” and that although there are similarities between the two designs, Vuitton’s LV mark used a larger font size and consisted of “a combination of letters and shapes,” while the Dooney & Bourke design featured an unadorned DB.
Louis Vuitton Vs. Artist Nadia Plesner
More courtroom drama involving the famous Louis Vuitton multicolore. LV is suing Darfur Fundraiser and Artist Nadia Plesner for Copyright Infringement.
Fashion house Louis Vuitton has filed charges against a 26 year old student artist for selling posters and t-shirts of a Darfur victim, holding a designer bag inspired by a Louis Vuitton design. Through her Simple Living campaign, started in October 2007, Plesner created products (in Paris Hilton style) with the image of a Darfur victim with a chihuahua and a Louis Vuitton purse. All proceeds were to benefit Divest for Darfur.
Continue the Louis Vuitton Vs. Artist Nadia Plesner chat!
Louis Vuitton Vs. Google
Louis Vuitton wants google adwords to knock it off! Europe’s highest court is expected to hear a trademark infringement suit involving French retailer Louis Vuitton and search giant Google and their keyword advertising system Adwords.
Problem is that companies that sell replicas buy up all the Google AdWords related to your google search. The keywords are used to place ads related to a person’s search terms using Google’s search engine or in Web pages with similar content. An example of this would be, say you are searching for a “Louis Vuitton Handbag” — of course you may be thinking authentic– but google’s search engine offers terms such as “Louis Vuitton replicas” and “Louis Vuitton knockoffs”.
The reason why Google is in the spotlight for the actions of third parties is because it makes money from their use of AdWords. Also, because Google’s automated system suggests alternatives for keywords that advertisers are looking for, Google plays some part in the use of these trademarks (for example, AdWords might suggest that an advertiser use “fake Louis Vuitton” after they indicate an interest in “Vuitton”).
Continue the Louis Vuitton sues Google Adwords chat!
This entry was posted on Thursday, June 5th, 2008 at 5:44 pm and is filed under For a Cause, Gallery, Handbags, Louis Vuitton (LV) Handbags & Purses, Purse News, Replica & Inspired Handbags, Would u Wear This?. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
DB: Great ruling, the signatures are totally different.
Artist Nadia Plesner: Should have saw that one coming!
Google: Why is LV going after google and not after the replica shops that flood the internet!
Kandra, you said exactly what I was thinking!
Seems like LV is sueing everyone these days.
I understand they are protecting their image, but going after Dooney is a joke.
About the Artist Nadia Plesner stuff — They stopped selling the stuff! Good thing I picked up one of the shirts a while ago.
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LV is seriously suing everyone now. i dont think they can win against google.
Here they go....AGAIN! But that's good they're trying to stop people from getting fakes when searching for bags!
Here they go....AGAIN! But that's good they're trying to stop people from getting fakes when searching for bags agreed. i really don't like it when i search for LV or anyother brand and all these knock off links appear. =T
This is going to sound stupid... but why would links to sites selling fakes even be allowed to appear in search engines. I mean, they are illegal... search engines should refuse to allow these websites to be cataloged in the first place.