A federal judge in Pennsylvania is allowing an independent designer’s copyright claim against Louis Vuitton to proceed, concluding allegations were plausibly alleged as there was sufficient similarities between the parties’ warped black-and-white checkerboard patterns.

In a Friday opinion, U.S. District Judge John F. Murphy for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania sustained a copyright claim against Louis Vuitton USA, concluding the independent designer, Paula Hian, who owns Paula Hian Creations, sufficiently alleged that Louis Vuitton’s design pattern was similar to her ”Plaque D’egout” pattern. Hian claimed Louis Vuitton had access to her design.