Mass Media Law Term Paper Louis Vuitton V. Haute Diggity Dog PDF

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Louis Vuitton Malletier S.A. v. Haute Diggity Dog, LLC “, 507 F. 3d 252 (2007).” Mandatory Essay
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Sasson 1 Ariel Sasson Professor Charles Suits MMC 4200 23rd April 2019 Louis Vuitton Malletier S.A. v. Haute Diggity Dog, LLC “, 507 F. 3d 252 (2007).” Louis Vuitton Malleiter is one of the most iconic and famous fashion houses in history to this day. Louis Vuitton is most known for their leather goods which include luggage and handbags. Not to mention their iconic “LV’ logo which makes this fashion house most recognizable to people on the streets everywhere. The company Louis Vuitton was founded in 1854 by Mr. Louis Vuitton himself. Louis Vuitton was founded in Paris, France. The fashion house has been around for 165 years. At only sixteen years old young Louis Vuitton decided to get into the luggage trunk business and change his future as well as his families forever. Seventeen years later, after learning the art of the luggage business he opened his own workshop at 4 Rue Neuve-des-Capucines which was near the Place Vendome. (https://us.louisvuitton.com/eng-us/la-maison/a-legendary-history) Louis Vuitton originally started out making luggage trunks in the late 1800s. Some people may beg to differ but the original canvas was not monogram it was Damier Ebene. Which in other words is the brown checkerboard print. Other designers were copying Vuitton’s designs so he introduced the Monogram Canvas in 1896 which was a harder design to copy. Louis Vuitton bags are the most copied designer bags in the world. Fun fact you can actual go to jail for selling counterfeit Louis Vuitton bags. Thanks to the Hollywood star and fashion icon Audrey Hepburn, she helped create the first Louis Vuitton handbag. The iconic bag we all love today the Monogram Speedy. The Speedy was designed after the Keepall which is a large handheld weekend traveler duffle bag. The Speedy handbag was designed specifically for Audrey Hepburn. She called Louis Vuitton

Sasson 2 and requested the Keepall in a mini version. In 1965 the Speedy was born. The Speedy comes in four different sizes the 25, 30, 35, and the 40. The beauty of Louis Vuitton bags is the durable coated canvas and the beautiful patina leather that turns into a golden honey color overtime with wear. Louis Vuitton bags are indestructible. They are bags that will last you a lifetime and will be passed down to the next generation. Louis Vuitton bags will forever be a timeless and chic handbag to carry. This bag is a must have classic for handbag collectors. Women everywhere are still carrying this iconic bag that fashion icon Audrey Hepburn strutted down the airport in, fifty-four years ago. Today the price for the Speedy starts at $950 and up depending on the size, material, and optional crossbody-shoulder strap. Circa day 2007, a dog company called Haute Diggity Dog had been involved in a lawsuit against famous fashion luxury brand Louis Vuitton. The dog toy company was making and selling inexpensive plush dog toys that copied Louis Vuitton’s iconic handbags and logos. The toys said “Chewy Vuiton” instead of Louis Vuitton. The dog toys also were a copycat of the iconic logo with the initials “CV” which stand for Chewy Vuitton instead of “LV” which are Louis Vuitton’s initials. Not only were the initials and slogan copied on the dog toys, but the shape and color of the iconic handbag were mimicked as well. While even though, Louis Vuitton does not sell or produce dog toys they do sell dog accessories and the company Haute Diggity Dog did violate trademark issues. The purpose of trade mark and service mark law is that it is designed to reduce the likelihood of confusion in a marketplace. (Excerpt From: Pember, Don. “Mass Media Law.” iBooks pg. 1814). In this case against Louis Vuitton vs. Chewy Vuitton the marketplace is against leather luxury goods and accessories against furry dog toys. “But courts have ruled that a

Sasson 3 parody of a trademarked item is not necessarily an infringement because it would not generate such confusion. Hence, when Haute Diggity Dog’s toys marketed its “Chewy Vuiton” dog toys, it did not infringe on the trademark of luggage and fashion designer Louis Vuitton. “The furry little ‘Chewy Vuiton’ imitation, as something to be chewed by a dog, pokes fun at the elegance and expensiveness of a LOUIS VUITTON handbag, which must not be chewed by a dog,” the 4th U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in 2007.3” Excerpt From: Pember, Don. “Mass Media Law.” iBooks pgs (1814-1815). When the court of appeals started their conductive research about whether or not “Chewy Vuiton” and the dog toys copied with Louis Vuitton’s iconic design and similar name they determined the idea to be a successful parody. While the Fourth Circuit of U.S. law states that: a “parody” is simply defined as “a simple form of entertainment conveyed by juxtaposing an irreverent representation of a trademark with the idealized image created by the mark’s owner.” PETA v. Doughney, 263 F. 3d 359, 366 (4th Cir. 2001). For this law to be effective, the parody has to have two things that co and side together and messages that contradict one another which is: muse have the original name, and also one that is not an original but a parody. The second part of the message means that it cannot just differentiate the parody from the original but it must “communicate some articulable element of satire, ridicule, joking or amusement.” Louis Vuitton Malletier, 507 F.3d at 260. While the court did conclude that “Chewy Vuitton” was a parody that was successful of Louis Vuitton’s handbags. The name and design were recognizable to the public eye which were a “knockoff” of the brands designer handbags and iconic logo only in dog toys. On the other hand, these dog toys were obviously not made, designed, or produced by Louis Vuitton. The

Sasson 4 trademarks were not in fact the same as the dog toys were marked “Chewy Vuitton” and the brand is marked LOUIS VUITTON. Even though the court did find this to be a successful parody of Louis Vuitton’s iconic logo and the phrase “Chewy Vuitton” in dog toys the case was not closed. The court had noted that there are confusing and non- confusing parodies. “The finding of a successful parody only influences the way in which the [traditional likelihood of confusion] factors are applied.” Accordingly, the court must then move on to analyze whether the parody is likely to cause confusion. To reach the decision on likelihood of confusion, the court reviewed the traditional likelihood of confusion factors considered by courts in the Fourth Circuit, namely: (1) the strength or distinctiveness of the plaintiff’s mark; (2) the similarity of the two marks; (3) the similarity of the goods; (4) the similarity of the facilities the two parties used in their businesses; (5) the similarity of the advertising used by the two parties; (6) the defendant’s intent; and (7) actual confusion. See Pizzeria Uno Corp. v. Temple, 747 F.2d 1522, 1527 (4th Cir. 1984). The court did take notice that the LOUIS VUITTON trademark is clearly very distinctive and recognizable, but in this case it did not establish the confusion of the doggy brand. This is because the dog brand was simply a parody that honestly just poked fun of the fashion and luxury Louis Vuitton brand. While the two brands were similar there were a lot of obvious differences and clear signs to point out any confusion the public eye may have had. On the issues against the case the dog toys were not similar product wise to Louis Vuitton and they were not advertised. The company Haute Diggity Dog just wanted to create a parody of the brand for Louis Vuitton lovers who could buy these dog toys for their dogs. Knowing that “Chewy Vuiton” was a parody and not to be confused with the luxury company Louis Vuitton. The Fourth Circuit had affirmed that the district court’s decision that the

Sasson 5 use of “Chewy Vuiton” by the company Haute Diggity Dog was not going to cause any confusion between the brand Louis Vuitton. “Two basic questions arise: (1) What is a famous mark? and (2) How is a famous mark diluted? A famous mark, according to the “recognized by the general consuming public of the United States as a designation of source of the goods or services of the mark’s owner.” Among the factors considered in this determination of famousness are the “duration, extent, and geographic reach of advertising and publicity of the mark” in question, as well as the “amount, volume, and geographic extent of sales of goods or services offered under the mark.” “As for the second question, a famous mark may be diluted in one of two ways under the federal statutes. In the first, known as dilution by blurring, the diluting mark “impairs the distinctiveness of the famous mark” primarily by the degree of similarity between the diluting mark and the famous mark and by whether the user of the diluting mark intended to create an association with the famous mark. ” Excerpt From: Pember, Don. “Mass Media Law.” iBooks (pgs 1817-1818). The court began to take note that it was a “fair use” and that even though the parody can be considered a “fair use”, that the “fair use” of defense does not just mean that the parody would equal to a source of a trademark issue. The full trademark of the brand Louis Vuitton is Louis Vuitton Malletier, 507 F.3d at 266. The chances of someone mistaking the dog toys by Haute Diggity Dogs slogan “Chewy Vuitton” are very slim and rare. This was only a parody and not a copy of the famous and luxury fashion house brand.

Sasson 6 The court was able to conclude that the trademark LOUIS VUITTON was very famous and distinctive. While this is true, the court came up with the explanation that with the facts under this case that it is just a parody. The court clearly stated that the mimicking of the name “Chewy Vuiton” that is printed on the dog toys is just “communicates that it is not the famous mark.” In the court case it is said that: “because the famous mark is particularly strong and distinctive, it becomes more likely that a parody will not impair the distinctiveness of the mark.” The court finally concluded that “because Haute Diggity Dog’s ‘Chewy Vuiton’ marks are a successful parody . . . they will not blur the distinctiveness of the famous mark as a unique identifier of source.”...