Judgment of the Court of Justice in Case C-412/24 | Fauré Le Page
The inclusion in a trademark of a number suggesting an earlier year of the company’s establishment and, therefore, a long-standing tradition which, however, does not correspond to reality, may mislead consumers as to the quality and prestige of the goods.
This happened to the French company Fauré Le Page Paris, incorporated in 2009, which acquired the ‘Fauré Le Page’ trademark and subsequently registered trademarks including the designation ‘Fauré Le Page Paris 1717’ for leather goods.
A competitor, the company Goyard ST-Honoré, challenged these trademarks before the French Courts, on the grounds that the reference ‘1717’ wrongly suggests the existence of a company founded in the 18th century and the transmission of long-standing expertise, when in fact the historic company Maison Fauré Le Page ceased trading in 1992, and Fauré Le Page Paris was not established until 2009.
The Court of Cassation (France), which is hearing the case, has asked the Court of Justice whether a trademark with these characteristics can be regarded as misleading under EU law. The Court of Justice has confirmed this: it can indeed be misleading.
The provision applicable to such cases prohibits trademarks ‘which are liable to mislead the public’ only in situations where the sign in question is liable to mislead the relevant public as to a characteristic of the goods or services it designates, such as their nature, quality or geographical origin.
It is therefore now for the national court to assess, in the light of the circumstances of the case and the perception of the relevant public, whether the number referred to in the trademarks in question is likely to be misleading, taking into account, in addition, the presence of the term ‘Paris’ and the message conveyed by those trademarks.
Even in trademark cases, ‘lies have short legs’.
Raquel Tostón
Abogada
