Laguiole: daggers drawn between tradition and trademark law
23 Jan 2013 - Several French cities, including Deauville and Paris, have recently taken legal action against the commercial use of their names and their registration as trademarks. Most recently, the town of Laguiole found out the hard way how important trademark protection can be. Full text

Moral rights in collective works: Supreme Court takes economic view
25 Jul 2012 - The French system of droit d'auteur is often criticised as being overly favourable to authors and for its unsuitability for the protection and exploitation of works in a business environment. However, the traditional, individualistic concept of copyright is losing ground in favour of a more pragmatic, business-friendly approach. A recent Supreme Court decision illustrates this evolution. Full text

Claiming right to information injunction at pre-trial stage: Supreme Court gives the green light
25 Apr 2012 - France's implementation of the EU IP Rights Enforcement Directive led to some criticism regarding the fact that French legislation was undermined by procedural issues taking over in court. The Supreme Court recently demonstrated that the courts have made progress regarding these issues in a decision regarding the application of the right to information contained in the IP Code. Full text

Construction group loses rights in Eiffel name
22 Jun 2011 - Trademark infringement claims are often followed by counterclaims for revocation or invalidity of the claimant’s trademark, which may have devastating consequences if improperly anticipated. French construction group Eiffage learnt this expensive lesson in a recent ruling from the Bordeaux Court of Appeal. Full text

Owner of well-known mark avoids genericness
27 Apr 2011 - In the trademark field, fame has a price – trademarks can be so well known that they become generic and lose their trademark status. Therefore, the owners of popular trademarks are constantly trying to protect their property. The owner of the DIVX mark is particularly active in this respect, as demonstrated in a recent case before the Paris Court of Appeal. Full text

Online copyright infringement: when Google Images finally meets French law
09 Mar 2011 - While Google’s exemption from liability for trademark infringement through its AdWords service has now been well established by the Supreme Court, the situation with regard to copyright infringement remains more uncertain. The latest service to be considered is the Google Images search, in regard to which the Paris Court of Appeal recently issued a long-awaited ruling. Full text

Online betting: court cancels trademarks of past monopoly beneficiary
15 Dec 2010 - In recent years, the fierce competition among the various actors in the online betting industry has seen many trademark disputes come before the French courts. In the latest development, the Paris Court of First Instance has dealt with a new kind of trademark dispute involving past beneficiaries of the state-regulated monopoly and new private operators. Full text

Appeal court upholds eBay's liability, but reduces damages
22 Sep 2010 - The Paris Court of Appeal recently confirmed that eBay was liable for infringement of the rights of French luxury brand owners the LVMH group by allowing the sale of counterfeit goods on its auction sites . However, the appeal court significantly reduced the amount of the damages awarded to LVMH, from €38.6 million to €5.7 million. Full text

New appeal court rulings add confusion to sports issues
07 Apr 2010 - In two decisions issued in late 2009 the Paris Court of Appeal was asked whether the owners of trademarks ROLAND GARROS and JUVENTUS could prevent online betting sites from using these signs to identify and/or promote their services. The court took a different stance in each case. Full text

Google Books infringes French copyrights, but not trademarks
03 Feb 2010 - The Paris High Court has found Google Inc liable for copyright infringement just as it is about to launch Google Editions, which allows consumers to purchase books previewed on Google Books. It held that Google infringed numerous protected works by digitising and displaying them on Google Books without the authorisation of the relevant copyright owners. Full text

Court finds that eBay benefits from hosting services provider defence
24 Jun 2009 - The Paris Court of First Instance has rejected L'Oréal SA’s claims of trademark infringement against eBay, holding that the latter was acting as a hosting services provider in supplying announcement spaces against remuneration. However, the court highlighted the fact that trademark owners and eBay must collaborate to fight counterfeiting, and called for the parties to go to mediation. Full text

Jurisdiction in online infringement cases: “substantial link” theory confirmed
28 Jan 2009 - In an eagerly awaited decision, the Criminal Chamber of the French Supreme Court has confirmed the applicability of the ‘substantial link’ theory in criminal cases involving the infringement of IP rights on foreign websites. The decision puts an end to the theory that the French courts will automatically have jurisdiction to hear online infringement cases provided that the foreign website is accessible from France. Full text

New dispute resolution procedure for ".fr" domain names
22 Oct 2008 - AFNIC, the registry responsible for the ".fr" country-code top-level domain, has implemented a new online dispute resolution procedure dedicated to “obvious” infringements. The most significant advantage is that AFNIC now handles the whole procedure itself, from examination of the application to enforcement of the decision. Full text

Use of trademarks as keywords: Supreme Court requests ECJ ruling
02 Jul 2008 - In recent years the French courts have tended to find search engines liable for selling trademarks as keywords, although the legal grounds for such decisions have varied widely. However, this situation may soon be resolved since the Supreme Court has requested a preliminary ruling from the European Court of Justice on these issues in three cases against Google. Full text

New law gives rights holders better weapons against counterfeiters
24 Oct 2007 - The French Senate has adopted a draft law that gives rights holders new and significantly improved legal weapons against counterfeiters. Initially intended to implement the EU IP Rights Enforcement Directive, the law standardises and improves the procedures available to holders of trademarks, designs and models, copyrights and patents. Full text