Vuitton Has a ‘Dog’ in the Fight

Abstract

High fashion has gone to the dogs – literally, and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia was asked to referee the recent dog fight. We all know Louis Vuitton, the French purveyor of fine and very expensive luggage, shoes, watches and whatever. Do we also know that “whatever” includes pricey dog collars, leashes and carriers? Ah, the French; they love their dogs.Enter Haute Diggity Dog, a manufacturer and distributor of designer dog collars and other pet goodies. Recently, HDD caught the eye and ire of Louis Vuitton when it launched a series of designer collars it called Chewy Vuiton.Those familiar with the real Louis Vuitton knows that its products bear the multiple interlocking LV initials, usually on every square inch of the exposed plastic-coated surface. To pull off its parody on the famous Louis Vuitton trademark, HDD marked its collars with a CV logo and sold them under the mark Chewy Vuiton. It was not as though Louis Vuitton was above selling doggie fashions – it was not. But this imitation was more than Louis Vuitton could bear and it filed suit against HDD and its retailer alleging copyright and trademark infringement.The author elaborates further on the merits, arguments, nuances, and the outcome of this case.