Fashion house Louis Vuitton's case against Warner Bros. wasn't in the bag after all.
A federal judge Friday tossed the French label's lawsuit over a knockoff bag used in a scene in the studio’s 2011 release "The Hangover: Part II." The design house had claimed that the 25-second scene harmed its brand identity.
In the scene, Zach Galifianakis' Alan tells Ed Helms' Stu to be careful with his luggage, because "that is a Louis Vuitton," pronouncing the silent "s" in the designer's name.
But Louis Vuitton didn't find it funny and filed a lawsuit last December, pressing for unspecified millions in damages and an injunction to stop further distribution of the movie until the scene is edited out. The fashion house claimed the bag used for the scene ― made by the Chinese-American company Diophy ― would confuse consumers.
U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Carter, however, disagreed, saying the claims didn't hold up against the First Amendment, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
He then went one better, analyzing the movie's humor for the court.
"Alan's terse remark to Teddy to '[be] careful' because his bag 'is a Lewis Vuitton' comes across as snobbish only because the public signifies Louis Vuitton ― to which the Diophy bag looks confusingly similar ― with luxury and a high society lifestyle," wrote Carter in his ruling.
"His remark also comes across as funny because he mispronounces the French 'Louis' like the English 'Lewis,' and ironic because he cannot correctly pronounce the brand name of one of his expensive possessions, adding to the image of Alan as a socially inept and comically misinformed character."
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