Trademark dispute against the fashion giant, Louis Vuitton

L V Bespoke, a family-run business based in Norfolk, recently won a trademark dispute against the fashion giant, Louis Vuitton, after a two-year legal battle.

Back in 2020 when lockdown hit the country, Mr and Mrs Osborne founded L V Bespoke. They had a  view to create steel plant supports and other home and garden products.

They decided to register L V Bespoke as a trademark as their business looked like it was taking off. Unfortunately, they received a letter from the Louis Vuitton legal team.

The fashion label argued that by registering the trademark “L V Bespoke”, there would be confusion in the eyes of consumers. Such confusion could also work for the benefit of the couple. According to them, the use of L V Bespoke would “take unfair advantage of, or would be detrimental to” Louis Vuitton’s earlier trademarks. 

Mr and Mrs Osborne decided to fight the objection. They argued that their metalwork products are clearly different than the metalwork found in Louis Vuitton’s handbags. The couple thought it was “surreal” to compare both metalwork and imagine that there could be any sort of confusion. This is what the judge, Matthew Williams, ruled in favour of.  According to him, “almost all of L V Bespoke’s goods were self-evidently dissimilar” to Louis Vuitton’s products. He added that “the only point of commonality is the presence of the same two single letters “L and V”.

Mr and Mrs Osborne spent almost over £15,000.00 in legal proceedings and lost two years of potential business growth. The judge however ruled in their favour and ordered Louis Vuitton to pay their costs and £4,000 in damages.

Intellectual Property Law can be delicate and a source of great stress when entering into a dispute. Whether in relation to trademark, copyright, patent, or passing off, the rules around Intellectual Property Rights can be difficult to navigate. Our commercial team has a wide range of experience when it comes to Intellectual Property and infringement of IP Rights and would be happy to assist both individuals and businesses with any issues relating to Intellectual Property.

For further advice and assistance please contact our Commercial Solicitors on 01604 828282 / 01908 660966 or email info@franklins-sols.co.uk