Photo Credit: https://www.thefashionlaw.com
Steven Madden (Madden) v. Yves Saint Laurent (YSL), a battle of David v. Goliath. YSL recently threatened Madden and at least 13 resellers with a lawsuit over Madden’s “Sicily” flats, which allegedly infringe the patent and trade dress of YSL’s “Tribute” heel and sandal. They also argued one of Madden’s discontinued high-heels infringe on the same patent of YSL, which Madden states is a blatant breach of their prior agreement not to assert intellectual property rights over. Madden believes the suit is “a bad faith attempt to stifle legitimate competition in the footwear industry,” and has since asked the court to dismiss infringement and to establish that YSL lacks rights in their designs.
Madden is no stranger to controversy and is known for offering copies of many designer shoes. However, Madden believes the claim is in bad faith and asserts that no ordinary observer would ever mistake or possibly be deceived by their Sicily flat sandal for YSL’s high-heel platform Tribute shoe. Madden further claims that YSL does not have federal trade dress registration, and any claim for a valid trade dress infringement claim would fail due to Madden’s sandal not looking substantially the same as YSL’s sandal. Trade dress relates to the design and shape of the shoe.
Do you think Madden has a point? Or does YSL have a right to protect their design?
Article by Carissa Chow