According to the European Court of Justice's preliminary ruling in the case, third-party dealers were found to be advertising counterfeit red-soled stilettos on Amazon, without Louboutin's permission.
The case came to light when the French designer filed lawsuits against Amazon in Belgium and Luxembourg, claiming that he did not authorize these products to be put on the market.
Louboutin’s signature red-soled stilettos are apparently registered as a trademark within the EU and Benelux trademark.
The top court of the EU stated that customers could be misled into believing that Amazon is selling shoes on behalf of Louboutin when, for example, Amazon places its logo on the ads of third-party sellers and stores and ships the products.
“These circumstances may indeed make a clear distinction difficult, and give the impression to the normally informed and reasonably attentive user that it is Amazon that markets — in its own name and on its own behalf,” the court stated. The luxury brand says that the court’s decision is “a victory for the protection of its know-how and creativity.”
“It initiated these proceedings to obtain recognition of Amazon’s responsibility for the offering for sale of counterfeit products on its platforms by third parties. It also brought this case to encourage Amazon to play a more direct role in the fight against counterfeiting on its platforms,” Maison Louboutin said in a statement.
The EU court came to the conclusion that it is now up to the local governments in Belgium and Luxembourg to decide whether consumers of the online marketplace have believed that Amazon itself was running the advertising rather than third-party vendors.
