François-Henri Pinault hits back at Christian Louboutin's red sole plagiarism claims PPR boss François-Henri Pinault has defended his label Yves Saint Laurent against Christian Louboutin's copycat claims in the case of the red soles. François-Henri Pinault, the CEO of French luxury fashion holding company PPR has hit back at Christian Louboutin's claims that Yves Saint Laurent plagiarised their trademark red sole, Women's Wear Daily report. In pictures: Celebrities who love Christian Louboutin shoes Speaking at a press conference to announce PPR's 2011 results, Pinault answered allegations made by Louboutin in a recent interview with French daily paper, Libération, that PPR were akin to counterfeiters and were trying to destroy his label. Quiz: What's the colour of fashion? "We won the first proceedings in quite precise, clear terms," Pinault told reporters, "I am therefore very confident with regard to this case, even if I regret it, because these are two great houses and I think we have better things to do than to fight in court over a question of colour." The case of the red soles has been rumbling on since April 2011 when YSL used red soles on shoes in their 2011 resort collection. Louboutin, who registered a Red Sole trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 2008, accused YSL of making shoes "virtually identical" to his own, which have become recognised for their scarlet soles since Louboutin first painted a pair red in 1992. Christian Louboutin shoes (left) and the Yves Saint Laurent Resort 2011 shoes causing the row (right). But in court last August, Louboutin lost round one of the case when judges denied a preliminary injunction and ruled that YSL could continue to sell the shoes until a final decision was made. Christian Louboutin loses round one of red sole battle with Yves Saint Laurent "It will not have escaped your notice that Saint Laurent has had a certain legitimacy regarding the use of this color for many, many years," Pinault added. I tried to find an arrangement in the best interest of both brands. That was not the wish of the house of Louboutin, which decided to attack Saint Laurent. Louboutin told Libération that he had met with Pinault to discuss the issue and was under the impression that the PPR would fix the problem, but that it never happened.