Region: France

The Paris High Court is confused about the treatment of protest sites. In one case, involving Areva, it ruled that the reproduction of a trademark along with additional elements does not amount to trademark infringement under the EU Trademark Directive. A few weeks earlier, it had held that replacing 'S' with '$' in the ESSO trademark did amount to infringement.

02 October 2002

France has had its first conflict involving a domain name that was not registered as a trademark, nor used for the identification of a person, product or service. The outcome, giving the plaintiff a "right of occupation" in the name, has been much criticized.

25 October 2001

A company that promotes technology projects and is the registered ownerof the trademark LEONARDO has lost its case against a cultural association thatused 'Leonardo' in its URL.

03 July 2001

A recent case before the Paris Court of Appeals involving subsidiaries of Virgin Inc illustrates the conditions that must be met to establish a case of cybersquatting.

19 June 2001

A recent example of cybersquatting in France involved a web site createdto denounce the social policy of Danone. The web master was not convicted forusing the company's trade name.

05 June 2001