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Yes, it’s Louis Vuitton, for the subtle basketball graphics-check. Reuters reports:
Estimating that “tens of millions” of Super Bowl viewers and an “untold number” of online viewers saw the commercial, [LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA] said Hyundai intended the ad “to benefit commercially from the fame and renown of the LVM Marks by creating a false association between Louis Vuitton and its automobiles.”
Louis Vuitton is seeking triple damages, punitive damages, a halt to the alleged infringement, and other remedies.
Remember kids, there’s a right way and a wrong way to do everything.
[UPDATE: Could GM sue LV for this ad?]
32 Comments on “Who’s Suing Hyundai For This Ad?...”
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Ed,
Are you missing the link? Because I’m not seeing any ad in this post…
Yes, I figured as much when I caught a glimpse of the basketball.
Personally, I thought that LVMH should be flattered that their signature pattern would be associated with the concept of luxury.
That, and the fact that they need to lighten up and not take themselves so seriously…I mean, really, do they actually think anyone is stupid enough to believe that Louis Vuitton makes basketballs?
If I were Hyundai I’d edit the ad to make the basketball appear in Guccissima leather (Gucci’s signature embossed pattern)…
Should be Infiniti suing them for ripping off their navigation computer design.
Also, the Cutlass Chanel
Beretta v. Beretta
Hyundai should try and settle this one out of court by having a handbag fight.
What was Hyundai thinking? Obviously LV would not have given permission to use their trademarked logo. On a basketball in a Sonata ad, no less. That’s probably why Hyundai didn’t ask.
Yes! I got it!
Weak. These cases have value if the whole commercial has to be thrown away. Easy edit. Hyundai has more money than Louis Vuitton and drag it out the 5 years these cases take. It will be quietly settled. Or maybe it’s a joint viral promotion …
I’ve never heard of Louis Vuitton, and didn’t notice the name in the ad.
Louis vuitton is a high-end fasion/haute couture retailer (italian), their logo/signature pattern is found on the basketball in the clip.
Ironically the guys playing basketball probably do know the LV brand better than others.
French – not Italian – founded in 1854. Doubt they’ll buy into the viral promotion aspect: I can’t think of a more snooty brand. Maybe Hermes.
Count yourself lucky if your wife/girlfriend is similarly oblivious …
All I know about LV is that Sarah Palin bought a LV bag for Piper using McCain campaign money…or something. Allegedly. That’s it. (Link to that is here: http://gawker.com/5067135/little-piper-palins-790-designer-handbag)
Showing a pattern on a basketball for less than two seconds is hardly Cheryesque infringement. Was it even the same pattern, or just a parody?
Also, LV’s insinuation that those “tens of millions of superbowl viewers” know WTF their trademark looks like is pretty rich…richer than they are. But not as rich as Hyundai is becoming. I’d back down.
So…the folks at LV just sit around watching Hyundai commercials? Guess they must really be smitten with the Sonata, huh?
They should settle out of court by making the Sonata LV edition…
I would have guessed PETA, upset about the lobster.
My guess is this is just a side effect of that quirk in US trademark law that requires one to defend their trademark. if you don’t do that, it can be ruled a generic – that’s why Xerox used to run those silly ads years ago.
Most of the time, this stuff is settled quietly out of court – companies look stupid doing it, and a high profile trial serves no one.
There’s plenty of stuff that’s either generic or close to it:
Zipper
Elevator
Escalator
Cellophane
Kleenex
Aspirin
Heroine
Dry Ice
i think this is more LVMH protecting their trademark rather than an all out assault on hyundai
one must ask how exactly are LV damaged by this advertisment
they are portrayed as a luxury brand… is that not what they are?
LV are probably terrified that they might suffer the same fate as British fashion label Burberry which briefly went down-market and produced a baseball cap with their distinctive checked pattern resulting in dozens of nasty knock-off products being produced with their logo on them.
I suspect that as I type this, a basketball factory is churning out basketballs with LV stencilled on.
It’s a bit like high-end car companies getting upset about other manufacturers describing their products as the Cadillac of lawnmovers or the Rolls Royce of corkscrews or whatever.
The basketball just has X’s and O’s on it. It is not the LV logo smattered all over their (ugly) handbags.
You’re right. It’s not the same as the LV pattern. The ad and the pattern seems to be a parody which should be legal.
“do they actually think anyone is stupid enough to believe that Louis Vuitton makes basketballs?”
Why is anyone stupid enough to buy their crap with their logos all over it? The whole “luxury” brand thing is stupidity.
You mean those funny paleolithic markings somehow belong to LV? You can see those sorts of marks in the various 15,000-30,000 year old cave drawings in France. People with cro magnon ancestors should probably sue LV.
LV should be paying Hyundai for the free promotion
The ad also had a sweet Crown Vic Police Interceptor.
Too bad most of the ad had that hideous new Hyundai searing into my eyes.
New cars are UGLY.
I was driving through San Francisco a few years ago when I passed an 80-something Mustang convertible with the Louis Vuitton graphics on it’s ragtop. One of my favorite tacky cars of all time.
Didn’t even notice the basketball, it’s on the screen for about two seconds.
Louis Vuitton is tired. Pretentious wannabes with no imagination buy their stuff. I’d rather have a basketball emblazoned with Hyundai logos.
pause the video at the 5 second mark. the LV corporate logo is dead center of screen underneath os the two X’s. seems pretty clear copyright infringement.
Read the logo. It’s LZ. The pattern is similar to LV’s handbag pattern, but quite different. It’s similar enough to look like it in a half-second flash on TV, but not enough to fool the ladies if you buy them one.
Unless Louis Vutton can prove that they hold an ironclad copyright on anything vaguely cross-shaped and circle shaped, they don’t have a case.
This commercial was about the idea of luxury, and Hyundai used the LV likeness. Can someone who actually knows law comment about this? This commercial had chandelier, Crown Vic, vending machines, and others. This commercial was depicting luxury and wanted to convey the idea of luxury.
@taxman100, sorry, Hyundai couldn’t make its own version of Pontiac Aztek or Buick Skylark.
A heartless piece of snarky posturing made by a foreign corporation –
Or a damn funny ad made by a company who was beat down for a long time and is now in ascendancy?