Louboutin Gets Tough

Christian Louboutin is well known for taking strong measures to protect its red sole from companies who might want to imitate it, but the shoe label isn't stopping there. The brand has reportedly garnered several other design patents over the past year, protecting - among other things - its spiked-toe design and a butterfly-adorned shoe created with Disney.

Louboutin has been awarded protection for its Azimut leather lace-up ankle boots, Manovra 70 studded leather and pvc slingback pumps, Guerilla studded open-toe booties, Gortik bootie, Body Strass crystal-embellished mesh and leather pumps, and Tassilo flat black patent loafers with spikes, The Fashion Law reports.

But Louboutin is not alone in its legal advances. Jimmy Choo has also been "amassing design patents on its footwear for about ten years," The Fashion Lawreports, while Hermès, Alexander Wang, YSL, Celine, and Balenciaga have also received fairly recent awards to protect their footwear designs.