Online retail giant Amazon could be held responsible for breaching luxury shoemaker Christian Louboutin's trademark rights over the sale of counterfeit red soled high-heeled shoes on its platform, the European Court of Justice ruled on Thursday.
Third-party sellers on Amazon regularly advertise red-soled stilettos that are not made by Louboutin. The French designer brought cases against the company in Belgium and Luxembourg, arguing that he did not give his consent for these products to be put on the market.
Louboutin shoes’ red outer sole, for which they are known, is registered as an EU and Benelux trademark.
The EU’s top court said that users could mistakenly think that Amazon itself is selling shoes on behalf of Louboutin.
The EU court said it’s now up to the local jurisdictions in Belgium and Luxembourg to determine whether users on the online marketplace could have been under the impression that ads did not come from third-party sellers but from Amazon itself.
