Nos actualités

Spring is just around the corner! While for some it heralds the return of fine weather and blossoming trees, for others it’s also a time for spring cleaning. Put away your vacuum cleaners and get out your best running shoes, because this March, Decathlon has just announced its strategic shift, with the adoption of a new logo and the dusting off of its brand portfolio. The famous sports retailer aims to strengthen its position and conquer new markets. With this in mind, the company has unveiled its new logo, consisting of a sign “as round as the world with a […]

The French Open (Roland-Garros) doesn’t start until May, and the French Tennis Federation is already recruiting a legal expert to, among other things, combat ambush marketing. This type of marketing, balanced between provocation and illegality, consists of a company associating its image with the notoriety of a major official event (often sporting: Olympics, Football World Cup…) or with a competitor’s massive advertising campaign, without authorization, without paying the rights to the event’s official sponsorship, or without paying for such a massive advertising campaign. In short: to position itself in the wake of a well-known event to benefit from the advertising […]

Created by the Law No. 2014-344 of March 17, 2014, the Geographical Indication (GI) to protect traditional craft and manufacturing know-how is experiencing a definite craze in France! Since the first GI was approved in 2016, no fewer than 17 GIs have now been validated and 3 are in the process of being approved. As a reminder, this procedure extended the protection that existed at the time only for food and agricultural products to industrial and craft products, so that any company can promote its products and know-how, linked to its territory, and protect itself against the abusive use of geographical […]

As the notion of intellectual property is being abused, as some predict its demise, as OpenAi integrates it into its reflections, as taxations on streaming platforms are put in place, it is interesting to go back to its origins to rediscover its meaning and possibly its usefulness. A rare fact, this notion is shared by virtually all countries , and constitutes a common foundation for all civilizations and economic systems, however diverse they may be. The earliest traces of protection for intellectual creations date back to antiquity, when the Greeks and Romans granted a form of recognition to inventors and […]

There are brands that have long since disappeared from our lives, but which had achieved such a level of notoriety that they remain in the collective imagination, or at least in the memories of the generations that knew them. Some of you will remember Mammouth® hypermarkets, which at the time still knew how to crush prices, Banga® dethroned and bought out by its competitor Oasis® or Raider®, the two-finger appetite suppressant, ancestor of Twix®. These brands may have left our shelves and disappeared from our cities, but they have permeated the brains of consumers, arousing the envy of some who […]

For the fourth year running, the European Commission is extending its “ideas powered for business” grant fund for SMEs from January 22, 2024 to December 6, 2024. The objective of this grant is to support European SMEs in the protection of their innovations by helping them to protect their inventions, trademarks and products through industrial property titles by taking charge of part of the official fees. The Fund is open to SMEs established in the European Union. The criteria to enter this category have been provided by the Commission (European Commission website). If you have already benefited from this grant […]

  Created in 2014 by prolific designer Sacha LAKIC, the iconic BUBBLE furniture line for Roche Bobois required the development of three-way stretch fabrics (Techno 3D) that perfectly embrace its round shapes. But it was its design that made it a commercial success. As its creator explains, this is the magic of design: “It acts like an irresistible attraction that is generated by a shape, by perfect proportions, by colors, materials, reflections and highly evocative lines“. Design has a direct impact on brand awareness and desirability, because “aesthetics is what you see first. […] I believe that the discovery of […]

✨ MARK & LAW team wishes you all the best for 2024! ✨

As we slowly slip into winter temperatures and cheese-based recipes reign supreme in our kitchens, three well-known Savoy cheese sectors (Raclette, Emmental, Tomme), grouped under a single entity, the Organisme de défense et gestion (ODG) Savoicime, are hoping to move from PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) to PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) status. The aim is to improve the reputation and quality of these cheeses compared to the current PGI. An opportunity to look at the main differences between these two official signs, and the benefits for many producers. Raclette, Emmental and Tomme de Savoie are three cheeses that currently benefit […]

In a decision issued on October 18, 2023, the French Supreme Court (Cour de cassation) reiterates that the use of a competitor’s trademark for referencing purposes is acceptable, provided that it does not give rise to a risk of confusion for the consumer as to the results obtained. In this case, the company Aquarelle, owner of the eponymous trademark and specialized in the sale of flowers, noticed that a competitor was using the term “Aquarelle” via the AdWords referencing system. It should also be remembered that in the field of search engine optimization, case law has established that search engine […]