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Louis Vuitton's Suit Against Hyundai Super Bowl Ad Is So Ridiculous It May Just Win

By Jim Edwards

Updated on: March 2, 2010 / 5:06 PM EST / MoneyWatch

LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton is suing Hyundai for showing a pastiche of its logo on a basketball in the carmaker's Super Bowl ad (video below). The logo appeared for less than one second on screen as part of parody of "everyday luxury," and even when you freeze the frame it's obviously not LVMH's actual logo. In the suit, LVMH admits that the logo is "a spurious replica of the Toile Monogram design used by Louis Vuitton on its handbags, trunks, purses, and other distinctive and successful accessories."

Nonetheless, LVMH wants all profits from Hyundai's ad. Sounds ridiculous right? The logo can't be seen and even if you can see it it doesn't look like LVMH's logo. Clearly, there's no case here....

... except that a look at LVMH's litigation history and its scorched-earth tactics show that it may win or at least extract an embarrassing settlement from the carmaker. In the past, LVMH has taken these actions against people using its logo without permission:

Won a suit against Britney Spears for using a fake LVMH car dashboard in a video.
Rapper T.I. was prevented from releasing a video to Swing Ya Rag that featured the logo.
P. Diddy's Bad Boy records settled over use of logos on a CD and references in lyrics by group Danity Kane.
Dave Navarro can no longer use his LVMH guitar straps.
Sued the Haute Diggity Dog company over its "Chewy Vuiton" dog toys. LVMH lost the case but it cost HDD $200,000 in legal fees.

Even in its less spectacular litigation against Canal Street-type counterfeiters, LVMH acts as if national security is at stake. Want to know what LVMH v. Various John Does (1:05-cv-10559-TPG), filed in Manhattan federal court, was all about? I can't tell you because the entire docket has been sealed at LVMH's request even though it's only a trademark infringement suit.

So the question for Hyundai is: Do you want to take on the world famous law firm known as LVMH, Moet, Hennessy, Louis & Vuitton (which also has a sideline in handbags), or will you just pay to make this go away quickly and cheaply? I bet the latter.