Nos actualités

July 8, 2022

Everything that sparkles is not “Champagne”: a story of Protected Designation of Origin

Last September, in a case involving bubbly drinks, the European courts once again reinforced the protection afforded to products covered by a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO).  But first of all, what is an Designation of Origin?  This term is defined as the name of a region or a specific place that is used to designate a product that meets certain requirements, in particular its quality and characteristics that are essentially/exclusively due to a particular geographical environment and the natural and human factors inherent to it. This designation is protected against any use that would aim to profit from the […]
July 4, 2022

Trademark protection issues in the metaverse

Although the subject of the metaverse is not new, since Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement last October about his desire to build a metaverse that would allow people to connect and develop businesses, this “new world” has aroused the interest of many companies that see it as an additional means of visibility for their marketing and commercial operations. The first cases concerning the unauthorized use of trademarks in this virtual alternative world have quickly emerged, notably last January between Hermès and the American artist Mason Rothschild who was inspired by the Birkin bags to create and sell digital objects in the metaverse. […]
June 23, 2022

Nathalie FAYETTE, guest of the French program Focus PME

🎬📺🎙 Nathalie FAYETTE, founder of MARK & LAW, was the guest of the French program L’Hebdo des PME – Focus PME, to discuss the missions of Industrial Property Attorneys in obtaining, protecting and defending the intellectual property rights of theirs clients in France and abroad. To watch the full interview with english subtitles, visit MARK & LAW‘s LinkedIn page by clicking here.
June 20, 2022

The position of the European Union Office regarding trademarks referring to drugs

When filing a trademark application with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), the examination service carries out a formal examination of the application to verify whether the sign filed may constitute a trademark granting a monopoly to its owner for the designated goods or services. Thus, the Office verifies whether the sign is not descriptive and whether it is distinctive, i.e. whether it can constitute a recognizable sign indicating the origin of the goods or services. Also, the trademark must not be contrary to public policy or morality. Taken in a European sense, this notion can have different apprehensions […]
June 10, 2022

Counterfeiting: What if you worked closely with customs to act effectively?

The mission of customs is to control the flow of goods from international trade in order to protect the legal economy and consumers. Unfortunately, the customs services in Paris region have seen an increase of almost 19% in their activity over the last two years. Partnership with IP rights holders are essential in the fight against counterfeiting. Indeed, independently and in addition to the filing of trademarks, patents or designs, the Application for Action with Customs is a formidable tool to act quickly and efficiently at a lower cost. This application will materialize the partnership between the customs and the […]
June 3, 2022

MARK & LAW referenced as Expert by BPI France

Our firm has recently been referenced as an Expert by BPI France in the framework of its new program called “Intellectual Property Strategy and Intangible Assets Valuation“. This diagnosis is aimed at SMEs and ETIs (intermediate-sized enterprise) seeking to develop the protection of their intellectual property and structure their intangible assets (patents, designs, trademarks, software, data). The objective of the support offer is to finance, up to 80%, an analysis and consulting service carried out by an Expert in the protection, structuring and valorization of intellectual property, More precisely, the diagnosis includes : An audit of the existing intangible assets, […]
May 24, 2022

The author of a work of art : the one who imagines it or the one who executes it ?

Is the author of a work of art the one who imagines it, or the one who executes it? A questioning which will perhaps find an answer on July 8 by the Judicial Court of Paris which will have the pleasure to arbitrate this debate as old as art, after the hearing of this Friday May 3. The art world is shivering… Here are the facts:  Maurizio Cattelan, Italian star of contemporary art and provocation is the subject of a complaint* by one of his regular sculptors, the Frenchman Daniel Druet, for infringement of the latter’s copyright. (*complaint also targeting […]
May 20, 2022

Morocco Joins the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement

The Hague System for the international registration of industrial designs continues to expand with a new Contracting Party to the 1999 Geneva Act. The industrial property title of “Design” makes it possible to protect the appearance of a product. Sometimes neglected by companies, even though they are aware of the protection of inventions by patents or names by trademarks, this protection is nevertheless essential since the aesthetics of your product is often decisive for the consumer and requires financial and human investments. Acquiring a monopoly on the aesthetics of your product requires reflection in parallel with its conception, since the […]
May 13, 2022

Ambush marketing : a source of distress for event organizers

On February 10, 2012, the Paris Court of Appeal defined Ambush marketing as “the fact, for a company, to makes itself visible to the public during a sporting or cultural event in order to associate its image with it, while avoiding paying the organizers and becoming an official supporter.” This practice implies an aggressiveness on the part of the author, the ambusher, to divert the attention of the public of an event to his profit. Fortunately, event organizers are not helpless against this kind of behavior. They have the possibility to register the relevant identification elements such as the title […]
May 11, 2022

Refusal of the geographical indication “Savon de Marseille” confirmed

On March 16, 2022, the French Court of Cassation ruled in favor of the INPI, which had rejected the application for registration of the geographical indication “SAVON DE MARSEILLE” (Marseille soap) filed on December 26, 2017 under No. 17-005 by the Association Savon de Marseille France (ASDMF) on the grounds that the application was incomplete and that the specifications did not meet the conditions set forth in the texts. The Geographical indications for craft and industrial products (GI CIP) was created to protect the name of a product associated with a geographical area, the product having to meet a precise […]