Luxury shoe brand Christian Louboutin has won a legal battle against Dutch company vanHaren in the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
Louboutin claimed that vanHaren was infringing on its trademark by selling shoes with red-bottoms.
The case was brought forward based on European trademark law, which prohibits the registration of shapes when they add substantial value to goods.
Red soled shoes are automatically associated with Louboutin and fetch a high price, so the case for vanHaren seemed strong.
“For 26 years, the red sole has enabled the public to attribute the origin of the shoe to its creator, Christian Louboutin,” Louboutin said in a statement.
However, the court ruled last week that Louboutin was not seeking to protect the shape of the shoe, but the application of red to the sole of it.
“The case will now go back before the Dutch court, but it seems likely that Louboutin will be allowed to develop a monopoly for red-soled high-heeled shoes,” Elaine O’Hare, an intellectual property specialist at the law firm Stevens & Bolton, told The Guardian.
The ruling was handed down June 12.