Fancy footwear mogul Christian Louboutin filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Yves Saint Laurent last week for the use of red soles in their footwear designs.

Louboutin has been using the now iconic red soles since 1992 when he first painted a sole red with nail varnish to inject some energy into the design. The label, which in fact trademarked the red sole in 2008 apparently asked YSL to refrain from using the colour in January this year but did not receive a satisfactory response. Louboutin therefore filed the current lawsuit, claiming $1 million in damages and a complete halt in production on all red-soled YSL shoes.

Reuters reports that the lawsuit states: "Mr. Louboutin is the first designer to develop the idea of having red soles on women's shoes. The defendants' use of red footwear outsoles that are virtually identical to the plaintiffs' Red Sole Mark is likely to cause and is causing confusion, mistake and deception among the relevant purchasing public."

This is not the first time Louboutin has filed a lawsuit regarding the infamous red soles; in 2007 the label sued US brand Oh Deer! for similar reasons and it has been reported this week in Vogue that the Brazilian label Carmen Steffens has also received a court order for trademark infringement.