By Sharon Feiereisen

Louis Vuitton lost their four-year trademark battle against Dooney & Bourke today. Vuitton claimed that Dooney & Bourke infringed on trademark laws with their “It Bags,” which Vuitton maintains are a knock-off of the Louis Vuitton Monogram Multicolore canvas created for them by Takashi Murakami. The Manhattan federal judge that ruled in favor of Dooney & Bourke said that Louis Vuitton “offered no proof that the similarities in the marks is likely to confuse ordinary consumers, whether it is at the point of initial interest, point-of-sale, or post-sale.”

  

Vuitton’s Monogram Multicolore line was introduced in 2002 and became an immediate success with sales hitting close to $145 million (prices range from $150 for a mirror case to well into the thousands). Dooney & Bourke’s “It Bags,” were introduced a year later and they too proved wildly successful, taking in over $100 million (prices range from about $50 to a few hundred).

WWD reports that the judge added that she acknowledges similarities between the two designs, but that Vuitton's LV mark used a larger font size and consisted of a combination of letters and shapes, while the Dooney & Bourke design featured an unadorned DB. She adds that the suit seems to be more about Louis Vuitton not wanting to be associated in any way with the “It Bags,” rather than actually customer confusion. For their part, Louis Vuitton said it would appeal the judge’s ruling.