This ball has bounced its way into court.
Louis Vuitton filed suit against Hyundai today over a Super Bowl commercial featuring a basketball emblazoned with the French handbag maker’s instantly recognizable logo.
The Manhattan federal court suit seeks unspecified damages for the Korean carmaker’s “unauthorized use” of its trademarked symbols, which Louis Vuitton says is “tarnishing their inestimable value through impermissible association with products of inferior quality.”
Louis Vuitton also wants all of Hyundai’s profits traceable to the 30-second spot, along with all copies of the “offending commercial” so they can be destroyed and never shown again.
The ad touts the 2011 Hyundai, likening it to “luxury available to everyone” and illustrated through images of crystal-chandelier street lights and cops eating caviar in their patrol car.
The spot also shows a game of three-on-three basketball being played with a golden net and a dark-brown leather ball featuring what court papers call “a spurious replica of the Toile Monogram design used by Louis Vuitton on its handbags, trunks, purses, and other distinctive and successful accessories.”
“Hyundai has adopted and used replicas of the LV and Toile Monogram trademarks intentionally to commercially benefit from the fame and renown of Louis Vuitton and (its trademarks) by creating a false association between Louis Vuitton and the Offending Commercial,” the suit says.
Hyundai did not immediately respond to a request for comment.



