ADVERTISEMENTIn a true David versus Goliath struggle in the business world, the French conglomerate Louis Vuitton has launched an intellectual property lawsuit against the Portuguese liqueur producer, Licores do Vale.
The French firm says the Monção company’s use of an LV (with an inverted V) on the labels of its bottles, and a graphic for its brand’s communications, are too similar to the one used by the fashion house in its productions.
The action was brought before Intellectual Property Court in order to challenge the registration of the Portuguese brand by the National Institute of Industrial Property.
According to the lawsuit filed and quoted by Jornal de Notícias, Louis Vuitton accuses Licores do Vale of “parasitically exploiting the prestige of a third party’s brand”, and creating “unfair competition” with an “identical or similar” symbol.
The French giant says that it is “an almost total reproduction” at “verbal, phonetic and conceptual” level and that it has registered products in the same category, thus reinforcing the alleged similarities.
Licores do Vale producer, André Ferreira told Jornal de Notícias, that he developed the logo together with his girlfriend in order to promote the product at small agricultural fairs in the region.
“The L is for liqueurs and the V is for valley, it was turned upside down to symbolise the mountains surrounding the parish [of Longos Vales] and the little leaves represent nature,” he said.
Ferreira, a metrology technician, who is trying to take his first steps in the world of artisanal production, says he was “surprised” by the measure, emphasising that the products are not on sale for now.
“This is a hobby. We’ve only just begun and started straight away with this entry. The Louis Vuitton logo and the Licores do Vale logo have nothing to do with each other.”
Ferreira applied to register the trade mark in August 2024 and it was granted in January 2025. At the time, Louis Vuitton “prioritised international trademark registrations”, with no consequences for the small Portuguese producer, who saw his application accepted. Even so, and despite the registration having been approved, the legal appeal now lodged by Louis Vuitton puts that registration on hold, leaving “Licores do Vale” in limbo.
On social media, particularly Instagram, many users have shown their support for the small Portuguese producer, encouraging him to continue his business and even to take advantage of the media coverage generated by the case.
On Instagram, where liqueurs of different flavours are discussed, the small business has just over 1,000 followers. Louis Vuitton, a French brand with 170 years of history, has more than 55 million followers on Instagram alone.
