Louis Vuitton Singapore

Posted in Intellectual Property, Louis Vuitton, Trademark by legalrants on December 2, 2009

Adopted from The Straits Times

In a recent advert on the Straits Times, Dormika Footwear Enterprise unequivocally apologised to Louis Vuitton Malletier for an alleged trademark infringement on the LV “Flower Quatrefoil” logo. LV probably thought twice about serving up a lawsuit to Dormika as the latter would have been unlikely to pay up any damages anyway.

Louis Vuitton Malletier products, or better known as Louis Vuitton, have been the subject of exhaustive counterfeiting in recent years as counterfeiting techniques have improved tremendously. The company takes counterfeiting of its products seriously and employs a extensive team of IP specialists and investigators police their IP.

Today, in order to marginalize counterfeiters, LV products can only be found in their boutiques and a few specialised, upscale departmental stores. Recently, they have also launched a website that exclusively caters to online shoppers.

LV-intiated lawsuits have certainly been colourful. In November 2007, the company successfully sued Britney Spears for the use of a Hummer dashboard that appears reminiscent of Louis Vuitton’s “Cherry Blossom” design, bearing the LV logo.

I did a quick search at the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore’s (IPOS) online trademark repository and had a number of interesting discoveries. Over the past 2 decades or so, LV had more than 50 successful trademark registrations in Singapore. Some are simply repetition of existing designs, while some have been withdrawn or expired. I’ll share some of the more interesting ones below:
Louis Vuitton’s most ubiquitous logo (Trademark #T9100128Z)