Christian Louboutin lost an unfair competition dispute in Japan

This blog has published news here and here about  Christian Louboutin‘s struggles to protect its red-sole ladies’ shoes around the world. After failing to register a trademark for its red sole in Japan the company tried to protect it against the Japanese competitor Eizo Collection Co., Ltd. based on the Unfair Competition Prevention Law.

Eizo produces ladies’ shoes including one with red soles.

Being unhappy with this Christian Louboutin filed a lawsuit in order to prohibit such use claiming an established reputation for its red soles.

The Tokyo District Court wasn’t impressed and dismissed the case which provoked an appeal.

The IP High Court upheld the lower Court’s position. Reaching this conclusion the Court considered that Louboutin’s shoes and those of Eizo are in different price segments. More expensive products require more attention in the process of purchasing as a rule of thumb. In addition, the Court pointed out that most shoes bear the producer’s brand apart from the visual aspects, this is true even in the case of online sales.

When it comes to the claimed reputation, the Court considered that it was not proved sufficiently. The provided research showed that 51,6% of the women between their 20s and 50s living only in big cities associate the red soles with Louboutin. According to the Court, this was not enough for a remarkable reputation to be established in the market as a whole.

Source: Masaki Mikami, Marks IP Law Firm.

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