Yves Saint Laurent settles "Ain't Laurent without Yves" lawsuit

London - French fashion company, Yves Saint Laurent, has settled its lawsuit against t-shirt firm 'What About Yves' and its founder Jeanine Heller for offering merchandise which infringed on its trademark,

YSL first filed its lawsuit against the Parisian-based company last April, for selling t-shirts which read "Ain't Laurent Without Yves" in response to the fashion houses creative director, Hedi Slimane, decision to drop "Yves" for the name of the company's ready-to-wear line. Yves Saint Laurent claimed that the products offered diluted its trademark, infringed on its trademark and also may confuse consumers with the product origins.

After YSL sent a number of cease-and-decease letters to Heller, YSL filed its lawsuit in the Southern District of New York Court. Heller responded at first by offering to sell her t-shirt design to the fashion house, which she tried to register the trademark the US, but was rejected due to its similarity to existing trademarks owned by YSL.

In the end the two parties settled the case outside of court, as the lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed on January 12, with Heller removing the YSL t-shirts in question from her website. News regarding payment in the form of damages has yet to be disclosed.