The footwear manufacturer failed to convince the highest civil court in its home country of Germany that its cork-soled shoes should still enjoy copyright protection.

With the less generous period of design protection for the shoes now expired, it is seeking to have them recognised as works of art, which are entitled to much longer protection under German copyright law.

Konstantin Wegner, one of Birkenstock’s lawyers, insisted the sandals are “influenced by Brutalist architecture” and have an “iconic design [which is] therefore also protected by copyright”, ARD reports.

Judge Thomas Koch in Germany’s Federal Court of Justice last week disagreed, dismissing the claim as “unfounded”.

A shoe can be a work of art, the court said, but only if it was designed with principally artistic intentions.