Afingo

The saga of the Christian Louboutin lawsuit for trademark infringement continued this week as the case was brought in front of a federal appellate court. Louboutin, who trademarked the red sole, known to fashion lovers everywhere, argues that four styles of YSL shoes from a 2011 collection infringed on that trademark. Louboutin filed an injunction, requesting that YSL cease selling the shoes until the matter was settled but Judge Victor Marrero rejected Louboutin's request, stating that color "serves ornamental and aesthetic functions vital to robust competition."

The seeming shrug-off of the injunction highlights the law's lack of conviction when it comes to fashion trademarking. The Supreme Court has found that a color can be trademarked when that color serves to identify the maker of a product (that case dealt with the color of pads used on dry cleaning press machines), but it is unlikely that Louboutin will be given a monopoly on red soles. One of the issues of this case is whether or not the color is functional, an aesthetic option, meaning all designer should have access to it, or whether this specific use of color is like a branding logo.

We just read a fantastic piece about the trials and tribulations of starting and funding an e-commerce site. Business of Fashion has done a fantastic job of pointing out that e-commerce is bound to boom any day now, while also highlighting the catch-22 that e-commerce companies often find themselves stuck with; needing funding to have a breadth of merchandise and a wide-reaching platform, but needing that breadth and reach in order to find funding. Here at AFINGO and at our sister site ShopToko we know all too well the careful planning it takes to launch any sort of web-based venture and are so pleased to see BoF exploring it.