Louis Vuitton Malletier is seeking more than 180,000 yuan (US$21,687) in compensation from a Shanghai real estate developer, accusing it of violating the LV trademark. The Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate People's Court held a hearing in the case on Sunday.

From July 23 to October 31 last year, a large billboard at the intersection of Shaanxi Road S. and Yan'an Road M. showed a woman in a kneeling position with a Louis Vuitton handbag in her left hand. Behind her was a design of a real estate project belonging to the Shanghai Xingui Real Estate Development Company.

The project is an upscale, full-service apartment building located near downtown Nanjing Road, in Jing'an District.

The plaintiff alleged that the ad would mislead the consumers, since it contained several elements in common with authentic Louis Vuitton advertising: a fashionable woman with an attractive figure and an LV handbag.

"In this ad, the LV handbag is in an obvious place without permission of the trademark owner and is even bigger than the picture of the real estate," said Huang Tao, the lawyer representing the plaintiff. "Consumers will very likely think it is an LV ad or that the LVMH group is also involved in real estate industry."

Huang stated that it appeared to be an attempt to use the fame and influence of the LV trademark to improve the reputation of the property developer's product.

Xingui claimed it had no need to use LV's reputation, since sales of apartments in the project have been strong since they started more than one year ago.

"The LV handbag was just used as a prop and was carried by the model herself," said Wei Ye, Xingui's attorney.

(eastday.com January 18, 2005)