Statement on Louis Vuitton's Favorable Ruling in Appeal on Lawsuit Against Dooney & Bourke for Trademark Violation.NEW YORK New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of -- Louis Vuitton The Louis Vuitton Company (more commonly known simply as Louis Vuitton) is a luxury French fashion and leather goods brand and company, headquartered in Paris, France. It is a division of the French holding company, LVMH Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy S.A. Malletier today issued the following statement following a favorable ruling by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in its trademark infringement Trademark infringement is a violation of the exclusive rights attaching to a trademark without the authorization of the trademark owner or any licensees (provided that such authorization was within the scope of the license). lawsuit against Dooney & Bourke. Louis Vuitton Malletier said: "Louis Vuitton is gratified grat·i·fy tr.v. grat·i·fied, grat·i·fy·ing, grat·i·fies 1. To please or satisfy: His achievement gratified his father. See Synonyms at please. 2. that the Second Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed the District Court's denial of a preliminary injunction A temporary order made by a court at the request of one party that prevents the other party from pursuing a particular course of conduct until the conclusion of a trial on the merits. A preliminary injunction is regarded as extraordinary relief. against Dooney & Bourke's improper imitation of LV's famous Multicolore mark. The Second Circuit held that the Multicolore mark is "original in the handbag market and inherently distinctive." The Court further noted that the "toile toile n. A sheer fabric, such as linen or cotton. [French; see toil2.] pattern, on which it is based, has been a famous indicator of Louis Vuitton for over a century." The Second Circuit described the Multicolore mark as "a strong mark... (which) earned praise and became famous almost instantly." The Court described the bag as "so instantly popular with purchasers that legions of imitators quickly appeared on the scene." The Court stated, "we agree with the district court that the Multicolore mark is protectable both because it is inherently distinctive and because it has acquired secondary meaning." The Second Circuit added that, in assessing the similarity of the marks at issue, "Courts should keep in mind that the law requires only confusing similarity, not identity" between the marks and that a side-by-side comparison is not the appropriate standard. " Louis Vuitton is the leading luxury brand in the world, with a long history of innovative design creativity in the development of new styles and trends and will continue to fight vigorously to protect its brand, customers and intellectual property against those who attempt to copy its high quality products. By way of background, Louis Vuitton filed suit against Dooney & Bourke on April 19, 2004, and moved before the district court for a preliminary injunction stopping Dooney & Bourke from manufacturing and selling bags and accessories that Louis Vuitton believes infringe and dilute Louis Vuitton's highly successful and famous Monogram monogram [Gr.,=single letter], symbol of a name or names, consisting typically of a letter or several letters worked together. A famous monogram is that of Christ, consisting of X (chi) and P (rho), the first two letters of Christ in Greek. Multicolore collection. On August 27, 2004, the district court denied Louis Vuitton's motion and Louis Vuitton then appealed that decision. The Second Circuit's ruling on June 30, 2006 addresses that appeal. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion