Louis Vuitton identified a Korean tavern that used a variant of its name (“Louis Vuiton Dak”) and a similar logo. The company took legal action, obtained a ban and imposed a fine when the business attempted a misleading change (“Louisvui Tondak”). The case is considered an example of a clear infringement of a luxury brand's reputation and trademark.
Type of Confusion: Total confusion of origin - the consumer perceives a misleading link
Plaintiff Strategy: Absolute legal defence of any phonetic or visual variation of the brand
- Countries: South Korea
- Year/Period: 2016-2018
- Branch: Fashion vs Focus
- Subject of controversy: Verbal & visual mark - “Louis Vuiton Dak”
- Winner: Louis Vuitton
- Loser: Louis Vuiton Dak
- Cost to Winner: Unknown (objections & claims procedure)
- Cost to Loser: 14.5 million won (about 12,750 US dollars at the time), full renaming, international negative publicity
- Source of Decision: fashion network
