TRADEMARK | French Cour de Cassation refers preliminary ruling to ECJ on deceptive trademarks

The French Cour de Cassation recently submitted a request for a preliminary ruling to the CJEU for case C-412/24 on the deceptiveness of French trademarks “Fauré Le Page Paris 1717” (the “Trademarks”), which were filed by “Fauré Le Page Paris”, a company established in 2009 (the “Company”). The Company acquired trademark rights on the name “Fauré Le Page” from another company, namely Saillard in 2009, which had previously acquired said trademarks from company “Maison Fauré Le Page” – established in 1717 – after the latter had ceased activities, in 1992. The Court of Appeal of Paris considered the Trademarks misleading, in that the words “Paris 1717” mislead the public into mistakenly believing the Company has been operating continuously since 1717. The Cour de Cassation sought advice from the CJEU on the interpretation of Art. 3.1 (g) of Directive (EC) no. 95/2008 and asked whether a fanciful date in a trademark conveying false information on the age, reliability and know-how of the manufacturer of the goods should be considered deceptive.

Newsletter n. 99 – August/September 2024