Participating Parties
LVM first claim is that Haute Diggity Dog violated LVM with trademark infringement. LVM second claim is that Haut Diggity Dog caused confusion amongst the brands due to trademark infrigement. LVM third claim trademark dilution by Haute Diggity Dog using their mark, would leesen LVM commercial uniqueness (Lehrmach, n.d.).
Ruling
The Fourth Circuit Court found that because LVM has such a strong mark and was well known as a luxury brand, that consumers would recognize that the Haute Diggity Dog pet chew toy “Chewy Vuiton” as a parody to the high-end designer. The strength of LVM’s mark did not help in LVM efforts to show that there would be a likelihood of confusion by Haute Diggity Dog chew toys (LawUpdates.com, 2007).
