Louis Vuitton loses trademark lawsuit

NEW YORK, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- Louis Vuitton Friday lost the battle to stop bag maker Dooney & Bourke from selling products with a monogram similar to its own.

The French luxury luggage manufacturer, which is part of the designer LVMH group, had filed a motion in New York to stop companies from imitating its ubiquitous logo made by its initials, LV.

The Norwalk, Conn.-based Dooney & Bourke has a line of bags emblazoned with its initials, DB.

But U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin denied Vuitton's efforts for an injunction against the Connecticut company for trademark infringement, concluding Vuitton was trying to have a monopoly over a certain style, rather than its actual logo.

"Louis Vuitton created a new look and now seeks to preclude others from following its lead," Scheindlin said. "If Louis Vuitton succeeds, then it will have used the law to achieve an unwarranted anticompetitive result ... the objective of trademark law is not to harm competition."