There are likely a fair number of fashionable Naples women who swoon over Christian Louboutin shoes. Louboutin's heels, which are regularly part of the red-carpet looks of celebrities like Jennifer Lopez and Sarah Jessica Parker, are noted for their red soles. Oftentimes, reporters and photographers can tell a celebrity is wearing Louboutin heels by whether or not the soles of her shoes are red.

But another French fashion house, Yves St. Laurent, has also made shoes with red soles and Louboutin is not happy about that. Louboutin sued Laurent in April, claiming that Yves St. Laurent violated its trademark by making some shoes with red soles.

The most recent development in the suit, which is now before a federal appeals court, occurred when 11 law professors filed an amicus brief in support of St. Laurent. In their brief, they said the aesthetic use of a single color (in this case, red) should not be something that can be trademarked. The use of a single color, they wrote, should be "rejected in order to preserve freedom of innovation and competition."

The crux of their argument is that Yves St. Laurent chose to make its shoes with red soles for artistic reasons. It did not do so in an attempt to indicate that the shoes came from Christian Louboutin. The professors say that if Louboutin never existed, St. Laurent's reasons for making shoes with red soles would be the same -- because the designers thought it was an attractive flourish.

We will follow this story and report any new or interesting developments.

Source: Bloomberg News "Yves St. Laurent's Color Argument Supported By Legal Academics," Victoria Slind-Flor, Jan. 10, 2012