Nathalie FAYETTE

Continuing the trend set in motion several years ago by the courts and appeal courts, the Paris Court of Appeal, in a ruling dated June 30, 2023, has taken yet another step in favor of companies on the subject of employee creations. In this case, the creations concerned are photographs. Let’s leave aside the question of the originality of photographic works and their eligibility for copyright protection, which is not always easy to demonstrate and therefore to obtain, and assume that the photographs in question are perfectly original. The case in question pitted an employee photographer against his employer, the […]

On June 22, Chanel sued an American company selling buttons from the famous French luxury house, transformed into jewelry, for trademark counterfeiting and unfair competition. This practice, known as upcycling, seems to be an ideal solution in a world where demands for sustainability and environmentally-friendly measures continue to grow. Yet trademark owners are concerned about the practice. What is upcycling? What are the risks for consumers, but also for the companies marketing these upcycled products? Upcycling is the reuse of an existing product to make a new one that is more valuable, or at least designed to be more valuable. […]

After an earlier victory, Hermès obtains a permanent injunction against the artist Mason Rothschild. Background: In 2021, American artist Mason Rothschild had created images in the form of NFTs reproducing the Birkin bags of the luxury house Hermès in fur. The artist offered the NFTs for sale on its <metabirkins.com> website. On January 14, 2022, Hermès filed an infringement action under trademark law, accusing the artist of damaging its brand image and cybersquatting. The artist invoked his freedom of artistic expression, notably denouncing animal mistreatment in the luxury goods industry through his NFTs. The judges ruled that the artist could […]

As part of the 30th anniversary of the European single market, the Lyon Métropole Saint-Etienne Roanne Chamber of Commerce and Industry organized a session on June 6, 2023, dedicated to the protection and strategy of international intellectual property rights. Nathalie FAYETTE, MARK & LAW Manager, co-hosted this session alongside Hélène SALAVILLE, IP Manager at Haulotte Group, and Céline MATHEVET, Assistant to the INPI Regional Delegate. This session was an opportunity to recall some telling figures, in particular that companies owning at least one patent, design or trademark generate 20% more sales per employee than companies without intangible assets (EPO and […]