Dr. Martens' black boots with striking yellow stitching have been a staple of the fashion world since the 1960s. Initially intended as a workman's shoe, it was soon embraced by various subcultures as a symbol of rebellion and is worn by many celebrities. Airwair, the manufacturer of Dr. Martens shoes, tried to protect the design of its iconic shoes as much as possible and registered a position mark with the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property (BOIP). With this trademark, Airwair sought to capture a black border with yellow stitching applied to every kind and color of boot. Van Haren disagreed and requested BOIP to remove the mark from the trademark register.

One of the reasons Van Haren gave for its request was that people would not recognize the black trim and yellow stitching as a trademark. People would not recognize the shoes as coming from Airwair on this basis, which is precisely the most important function of a trademark. Airwair and BOIP disagreed. According to BOIP, Airwair had submitted sufficient evidence showing that people recognize the black border with yellow stitching as an indication of origin.

However, that was not the end of the matter. Van Haren appealed to the Benelux Court of Justice (in Dutch). The Court went in a different direction than BOIP: Airwair did prove that the black border and yellow stitching on dark boots is recognized as a trademark, but not that this also applies to other colors of boots. Since the trademark is registered for all colors of boots, it will be removed from the register. It remains to be seen whether Airwair will now try to register a trademark for black boots only or whether the battle for the yellow-stitched boots in all colors will continue. To be continued…