Court Rejects Richemont Design Claim Against Louis Vuitton
March 19, 25
(IDEX Online) - A French court has again ruled in favor of Louis Vuitton in a long-running legal battle with rival Van Cleef & Arpels over a clover design.
It rejected a claim of "parasitic competition" by Van Cleef & Arpels, in which it alleged Louis Vuitton had unfairly capitalized on its iconic Alhambra motif designs in its Color Blossom jewelry collection.
The case dates back to 2017 when Van Cleef & Arpels, part of the Swiss luxury conglomerate Richemont, alleged the Louis Vuitton collection, launched two years earlier, bore a striking resemblance to its own designs.
Richemont asked the court to stop Louis Vuitton manufacturing and selling 31 jewelry items, and demanded EUR 15m in damages.
Louis Vuitton countered that four-round-petal designs were widely used in the jewelry industry and that its own designs were inspired by the iconic toile monogram.
In 2017 the court ruled against Van Cleef & Arpels and its claim of parasitic competition - when an entity exploits the efforts, investments, or reputation of another for its own benefit without incurring the associated costs or risks.
The French Court of Cassation upheld that decision in a ruling on 5 March, saying the claimant had failed to show intentional exploitation of its reputation by a competitor.
We have approached both Louis Vuitton and Van Cleef & Arpels for comment.
Pics courtesy Van Cleef & Arpels (left) and Louis Vuitton (right).