Question 1: Read the articles on "Louis Vuitton vs. Chewy Vuiton" and "The North Face vs. The South Butt". Do you think the creators of Chewy Vuiton or South Butt violated their opponent's trademark and/or trade name rights? Why or why not? Can you think of any other similar situations?

https://abcnews.go.com/Business/teens-south-butt-apparel-irks-north-face/story?id=8712101&singlePage=true

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. WSJ.com NOVEMBER 28, 2006, 1:07 PM ET "Chewy Vuiton" Beats Louis Vuitton, But Feels a Bite LVMH's Louis Vuitton unit sued a small company named Haute Diggity Dog over a line of canine products it called Chewy Vuiton. Earlier this month a federal court ruled in favor of Chewy Vuiton, whose products are decorated with a pattern reminiscent of the luxury-goods maker's famed logo. Wrote Judge James Cacheris: The fact that the real Vuitton name, marks and dress are strong and recognizable makes it unlikely that a parody particularly one involving a pet chew toy and bed will be confused with the real product." But the victory was a pyrrhic one, reports Raymund Flandez in the WSJ's Small Business column. Legal fees for Chewy Vuiton added up to $200,000, it lost distributors and had merchandise sent back as a result of the lawsuit, and Louis Vuitton says it will appeal. "It's been a horrible experience, " says one of the five employees at the Las Vegas company, which has roughly $1 million in sales. But they had no choice to fight back, she adds, "because we would have had to go out of business." Big companies are becoming increasingly litigious in protecting their brand names, Flandez points out. Last year alone, Louis Vuitton conducted more than 7,200 anticounterfeiting raids around the world and began about 18,000 new legal proceedings. The ruling in Chewy's favor surprised trademark lawyers. A change in the U.S. Federal Trademark Dilution Act that went into effect in early October favors companies trying to protect their trademarks, lowering the bar for proving damage. Instead of showing actual dilution of a trademark, the company would have to prove only a "likelihood" this has happened. "We believe the court's ruling misinterprets the law, which is designed to protect freedom of speech, not to allow companies like Haute Diggity Dog to make money by exploiting the good name and trademark of Louis Vuitton," said LVMH, which makes a few posh pet products, like leashes and collars for up to $1,600). Haute was represented by Bob Mason of Mason & Petruzzi in Dallas, who said, "Sometimes famous marks don't see the humor that the rest of us see."