A Norfolk business has been taken to court by global fashion giant Louis Vuitton in a 'David and Goliath' trademark dispute.
L V Bespoke is a family business based in Reepham which sells handmade home and garden products.
Owners Lawrence and Victoria Osborne started the business from their home workshop during the pandemic, but they have now found themselves embroiled in a high-profile tribunal process with the world’s most valuable luxury brand, Louis Vuitton.
The fashion powerhouse, which owns the famous Louis Vuitton interlocking L and V trademark, opposed the small business owners’ application to register their company name as a UK trademark at a tribunal hearing on Monday (July 10).
Louis Vuitton claimed the use of the ‘L V’ initials could cause the public to make a mental link to their own brand, allowing L V Bespoke to gain an unfair advantage.
The firm also claimed this could dilute the distinctiveness of the Louis Vuitton brand and risk damaging its reputation.
“Louis Vuitton say they have superior rights to use the initials ‘L V’,” Mrs Osborne said.
“They have also raised concerns over our handcrafted metalwork products because they use metal for their ‘L V’ symbols on their handbags.”
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The Osbornes' trademark application relates to metal plant supports - something Louis Vuitton claimed falls into a category it owns exclusive rights to under its registered trademark, which includes common metals and their alloys, and metal components for leatherware.
This relates to closure systems, plates, locks, padlocks, handles, buckles and button handles.
The Osborne family argued Louis Vuitton could not claim exclusive rights to the plain letters L and V.
They have said the dispute has already cost them “tens of thousands of pounds”.
“Some of the things raised at the hearing were laughable and eyebrow-raising,” Mrs Osborne said.
“They think we’re riding on their coattails, but it has been detrimental for our small family business. We don’t have the finances to challenge them any more than we already have.
“We’ve done all we can, and we now have to play the waiting game for the official verdict.”
A decision is set to be made in the coming months.
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The couple established L V Bespoke after having “the carpet pulled from beneath us overnight” by the pandemic, as national lockdowns prevented them from running their former construction and holiday lettings businesses.
They turned to their garden and, on the back of the early success of the business, they applied for a trademark 18 months ago.
This is not the first time that a Norfolk business has come up against a major global company in court.
Last year, Norwich-based gin-maker Bullards – a company dating all the way back to 1837 – won a legal battle over its trademark against energy drink giant Red Bull.
Despite Red Bull being launched in 1987 - some 150 years after Bullards - the company’s lawyers told Bullards there could be cause for confusion amongst the public as both brand names shared the term 'bull'.
In 2014, Camden Town Brewery threatened legal action against the Norwich-based Redwell Brewery claiming it was trying to pass off its ‘Hells Lager’ as Camden’s.
Despite Redwell arguing that ‘hells’ is a commonly used German term for light lager, the brewery stopped producing the beer in 2016 after an out-of-court agreement.
A tale of two firms
Founded in 1854, Louis Vuitton is a division of LVMH – Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton – which is the world’s leading luxury goods group - recording revenue of €79.2 billion (£67.5bn) last year.
Headquartered in Paris, the group had a record year in 2022 – with profits from recurring operations of €21.1bn (£18bn).
Established in 2020, L V Bespoke sells plants, steel plant supports and a range of handmade home and garden items.
Headquartered in Reepham, the business also had a record year in 2022, turning over £250,000.
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