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Mrz 16, 2015
Charlotte Urman, Inlex IP Expertise, France
Tifenn Meillot, Inlex IP Expertise, France

French geographic names in shifting sands!


Charlotte Urman, Inlex IP Expertise, France, Tifenn Meillot, Inlex IP Expertise, FranceProtection of geographic name by trademarks have often been questionnable in the European case law and this was particularly true in France these last monthes.
Indeed, French law has the particularity to give rights to the French «collectivités territoriales» (i.e.: municipality, grouping of municipalities, department, region…) on their geographic names which is not without incurring monopolistic problems in the field of trademarks. This has in fact recently hit the headlines in France.

For instance, on the one side, the municipality of “Laguiole” was simply dispossessed of its name after several years of legal proceedings (Laguiole was finally considered by the French courts as descriptive in the field of cutlery!) and on the other side, the tourism Office of “Val’Thorens” has been considered as the "author" of the ski resort’s name (considered as a collective work on the ground of copyrights). In this context, the rights of the French legal authorities on their own geographic names and the possibilities for  read more