This month, we discuss Christian Louboutin v. Yves Saint Laurent,1 in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part the district court’s denial of a preliminary injunction against alleged trademark infringement. The court’s opinion, written by Judge José Cabranes and joined by Judge Chester Straub and Judge Debra Livingston, considered whether a single color may be a legally protected trademark in the context of the fashion industry. Because the district court based its ruling on the premise that a single color could not serve as a valid trademark in the fashion industry, affirming the district court’s judgment in its entirety would have created a per se rule in the Second Circuit denying protection for the use of a single color as a trademark.
Background
Since 1992, Christian Louboutin has designed high-fashion women’s footwear and accessories often characterized by their most noticeable feature: a dramatic red outsole that almost always contrasts with the rest of the shoe. Over time, as Louboutin’s shoes grew in popularity, the red outer sole became associated in popular culture with both the brand and with high-fashion affluence. In one example of the acquired recognition of Louboutin’s red sole, the host of the 2007 Emmy Awards asked television star Eva Longoria to display the striking red soles of her Louboutin shoes to the television audience. Moreover, in 2009, Jennifer Lopez released a single called “Louboutins” in which the singer abandons an unappreciative lover by declaring, “I’m throwing on my Louboutins, watch these red bottoms…watch me as I go.”2 Louboutin’s promotion of the red lacquered soles was so successful that, according to the district court, “in the high-stakes commercial markets and social circles in which these things matter a great deal, the red outsole became closely associated with Louboutin.”3
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