French Consumer Law is a comprehensive and comparative overview of French and EU law in this field, covering: advertising, unfair commercial practices, conditions for the validity of contracts, unfair terms, product conformity, latent defects, product safety.

French Consumer Law

Comparative advertising may refer to the trademark of the competitor which it designates without its authorization, provided that the advertising complies with the requirements of Article L. 122-1 of Consumer Code and that, according to Article L. 122-2, it does not “unduly profit from the notoriety attached to (this) trademark” and does not present “goods or services as an imitation or reproducti …

Usurping the reputation of another

Comparative advertising may refer to the trademark of the competitor which it designates without its authorization, provided that the advertising complies with the requirements of Article L. 122-1 of Consumer Code and that, according to Article L. 122-2, it does not “unduly profit from the notoriety attached to (this) trademark” and does not present “goods or services as an imitation or reproduction of a good or service benefiting from a protected trademark or trade name”. Failure to comply with these provisions exposes the advertiser to an action for unfair competition pursuant to Article 1240 of the Civil Code and/or infringement proceedings subject to Articles L. 716-9 and L 716-12 of the Intellectual Property Code.

Thus, the manufacturer of ink cartridges unduly benefits from the reputation of a major brand when it falsely claims that its cartridges are entirely compatible with the latter . The use of a concordance table comparing high-end fragrances and the perfume of a lesser known supplier, also falls under Article L. 122-2 . On the other hand, an advertisement that compares the environmental impact of the use of a piston coffee maker and a capsule coffee maker by referring to a major brand of coffee and coffee machines, due to the comparable reputation of the advertiser and the competitor concerned  or comparing the price of products sold online when the brand referred to is only well-known in offline trading and not in online trading , does not constitute an act of parasitism. The finding of an act of parasitism also implies that the competitor, the subject of the comparison, demonstrates the reputation claimed  and the investments made to gain it .

The comparison also should not present goods or services as an imitation or reproduction of other products or services enjoying a protected trademark or trade name. This is the case when a model of a mass-produced item of clothing is presented as an imitation of a luxury brand garment . Similarly, the operator of a website that allows users to find a product that imitates its fragrances by entering the name of a well-known branded perfume in a search engine, is guilty of unlawful comparative advertising . The Court of Cassation nevertheless considered that an advertisement which informs doctors of the introduction of a generic product on the market does not claim to imitate the original medicinal product and is therefore not unlawful, to the extent that the generic is substitutable for the basic drug and constitutes its equivalent .

 TGI Paris, 13 July 2006, LawLex200700000598JBJ.

 Cass. com., 16 October 1985, LawLex200300002644JBJ; 17 December 1985, LawLex200300002644JBJ; 2 February 1988, LawLex200300002646JBJ; CA Reims, 29 March 1993, LawLex200200001653JBJ.

  Cass. com., 25 September 2012, LawLex201200002048JBJ.

  CA Paris, 23 June 2006, LawLex200600001736JBJ.

 CA Douai, 11 September 2008, LawLex201200001047JBJ.

CA Paris, 31 January 2020, LawLex202000000198JBJ.

  CA Paris, 8 December 1999, LawLex200300001336JBJ.

 TGI Paris, 11 April 2014, LawLex201400000788JBJ.

 Cass. com., 24 May 2011, LawLex201100000953JBJ, approving Versailles, 17 September 2009, LawLex201200001048JBJ; CA Paris, 8 October 2010, LawLex201100000983JBJ, which considers advertising for a generic drug using the reference colors of the advertising of the original drug lawful, to the extent that this color is only used in a small insert and is only intended to inform the public; CA Versailles, 13 December 2011, LawLex201500001110JBJ.

French Consumer Law

301. Usurping the reputation of another

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Les notions juridiques connexes

301. Usurping the reputation of another

Demandez un accès gratuit au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise

Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

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au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise