Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse scored a victory yesterday over Louis Vuitton, when a judge ruled that the discount store could continue to sell a logo handbag that Vuitton argued could be confused with its own.
Louis Vuitton, part of the LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton luxury goods empire, had asked the court for a preliminary injunction to prevent Burlington from selling the pocketbooks.
Judge Richard M. Berman of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that Burlington’s handbags appeared to be sufficiently different from Vuitton’s.
Louis Vuitton said it will appeal the decision. “We believe strongly that the marks on the counterfeit Burlington handbags are nearly identical with the famous Louis Vuitton Toile Monogram trademarks and we have significant evidence demonstrating Burlington’s bad faith,” the company said in a statement.
Louis Vuitton has seen a huge demand for its handbags that feature its “LV” logo, especially the Murakami, a bag that adds color to the traditional brown and beige design.
The Burlington bags sell for $28.98 – a far cry from the $475 Murakami. They are beaded in colorful designs and feature the initials “N and “Y” with diamonds, flowers and stars in a crisscross pattern.
Among the differences cited by Judge Berman are the beading – Louis Vuitton’s bags tend not to be beaded – and the initials.