I never thought I’d be blogging about Paris Hilton–not even Paris Hilton lawsuits. But by allegedly churning out knockoff shoes, she has now come squarely my area of expertise. Yes, she has a shoe line, partnering with one Antebi Footwear Group to design the Paris Hilton Footwear Line Collection . And yes, she has been sued for copying another line called Brooke Hollow Inc., which does business as Gwyneth Shoes. Here’s a copy of the complaint for download: Paris Hilton Complaint. The case features a lot of the interesting issues in fashion knockoff litigation, such as the use of trademark/Lanham Act law (as described in other posts, with more to come).

But this case also has a twist. The Plaintiff has a “design patent” for element allegedly copied by Hilton. A design patent is a patent granted on the ornamental design of a functional item. Well doesn’t that just solve everything? Why don’t all clothing designers just get design patents? Well, mostly because they take forever, they are expensive, and because most apparel design patent applications will be rejected because they are not “new” in a pure sense. Design patents only make sense when you’ve got a very original design element (not a rephrasing of some past theme) that the designer plans to make use of from season to season.