YSL & Louboutin Reach Détente in Court

By Piper Gray 10/16/12 at 05:00 PM

louboutin red sole legality

Christian Louboutin's Bianca

After a protracted legal battle over the red sole trademark, YSL and Christian Louboutin's footwear case appears to have drawn to a close.

Refresher: Louboutin filed a trademark infringement suit (the designer trademarked the red soles in 2008) against YSL in April 2011. Since then, YSL hasn't taken this lying down, alleging that granting Louboutin's trademark was ludicrous to begin with.

Louboutin won a minor victory last month when court decided his trademark protection was valid (and only red shoes designed elsewhere could use red soles), and now, it appears he's got another win on his side.

(Looks like François-Henri Pinault isn't going to be too happy about this.)

Saint Laurent America Inc. has called off the company's six counterclaims against Louboutin. Women's Wear Daily reports that YSL, in filed court documents, “has decided that these claims are no longer worth pursuing ... thus resolving what remains of this litigation and allowing the parties to close the book on this litigation and refocus their attention on their respective fashion creations.”

In short? Things could wrap up within the week.

So will YSL be back to creating red-soled footwear anytime soon? The lawyer for Saint Laurent America Inc., David Bernstein of Debevoise & Plimpton, says “That’s part of our heritage. So I can’t tell you if or when it’ll happen again, but what this case now makes clear is that we can [use it on monochromatic styles] anytime we want to.”

We have a feeling plenty of women will still be sporting the red soles.