Earlier this month the Southern District of New York granted the defendant’s Motion for Summary in Louis Vuitton Malletier, S.A. v. My Other Bag , Inc. The fashion giant had brought suit against a California company over its sales of a canvas tote bag that included an image that “evoked” Louis Vuitton’s classic handbag design. An image of the Defendant’s products is shown below and you can read more about the Motion for Summary Judgment here.
Fresh off their victory, the Defendant My Other Bag (“MOB”) filed a Motion for Attorney’s fees just last week. MOB claims that the facts of the case render it an “exceptional” case under the Lanham Act and therefore request an award of $398,821.
In its Memorandum, MOB acknowledges that the Second Circuit normally requires a showing of “bad faith” before awarding attorney fees. However, the Supreme Court’s ruling in Octane Fitness v. Icon Health & Fitness, 134 S. Ct. 1749, 1758 (2014) rejected this interpretation of the term “exceptional,” instead finding that an exceptional case is merely one that stands out from others due to the relative merits of the claims or the litigation conduct of the parties. Although the case involved a claim of patent infringement, much of the language in the Patent Act mirrors the language of the Lanham Act and, as a result, courts regularly rely on decisions interpreting provisions of one act to interpret the other. Indeed, the Third, Fourth, and Sixth Circuits (and numerous district courts) have all recognized the applicability of Octane Fitness to requests for attorney fees under the Lanham Act.
Does MOB have a winning claim? MOB won on summary judgment on all three claims. That’s helpful, but does not mean that Louis Vuitton’s claims were weak enough to justify an award of attorney fees. Moreover, defenses of fair use or parody are particularly difficult to evaluate as courts frequently reach different conclusions on similar facts. In fact, Louis Vuitton successfully sued Hyundai Motor Co. in the same district under arguably less favorable facts (as MOB points out in its motion, though, Hyundai Motors undermined its own case with some poorly worded testimony).
Predictably, MOB also throws out the “bully” label. This is by far the first time the label has been thrown at Louis Vuitton. MOB argues that Louis Vuitton has pursued numerous “weak” claims, including a law school symposium’s use of the LV design on a promotional poster, a “Chewy Vuitton” dog toy, a Danish artist who placed a photograph of a child refugee holding a Louis Vuitton bag on a t-shirt (and then the painting of that photograph), other art exhibits, and the appearance of a character named “Lewis Vuitton” in the movie The Hangover II. It certainly can’t help that Louis Vuitton appears to wear these tactics as a badge of honor, alleging in its own pleadings that it “actively and aggressively” enforces its trademark rights.
The chances of the court not adopting Octane Fitness are low, but the better question is whether the court considers the facts of the case to justify an award. It will also be interesting to see what consideration the court gives to Louis Vuitton’s perceived “bullying” tactics. When granting the Motion for Summary Judgment, the court did not seem particularly impressed with Louis Vuitton’s claims as it wondered whether the company “just cannot take a joke.” Maybe a $400,000 bill would be the perfect punchline.