Christian Louboutin Louboutin's red soles Christian Louboutin a recognizable trademark.

According to a recent decision of the Court of Justice, the red color of the soles of the shoes Christian Louboutin it is a position trademark and not a mere form trademark and as such constitutes a valid proprietary right.

This is the decision adopted by the Court of Justice of the European Union, after the creator had sued the Dutch company Van Haren for selling women's high-heeled shoes with red soles.

The Dutch footwear retailer had marketed women's high-heeled shoes with red soles in 2012—the "5th Avenue by Halle Berry" model—and was sued by Louboutin for infringement. Van Haren defended itself by invoking the "invalidity" of the Louboutin trademark, citing the fact that "the EU Trademark Directive lists various grounds for invalidity or refusal of registration, in particular for signs consisting exclusively of the shape which gives substantial value to the product."

Ruling C-163/16, however, establishes that the "protection" of the Louboutin trademark's red sole "does not concern a specific shape of high-heeled shoe sole (which would not be protected in Europe, ed.), since the description of the trademark expressly indicates that the outline of the shoe is not part of the trademark, but serves only to highlight the position of the red color to which the registration refers." The Court also added that a sign cannot be considered to consist "exclusively of the shape where the principal object of that sign is a color specified by an internationally recognized identification code."

The fashion house is satisfied and speaks of "Victory for the Maison Christian Louboutin ", as "the protection of the red sole trademark of Christian Louboutin is strengthened by the European Court of Justice". According to the company, today's Luxembourg ruling "has confirmed that the legal regime governing shape trademarks does not apply to the 'red sole' trademark of Christian Louboutin ", which is on the contrary "a position mark, as the Maison has maintained for many years".