F.A.Q

TRADEMARKS & OTHER
DISTINCTIVE SIGNS

1. I am setting up my start-up company: should I protect the name? How do I know if the name is available? What formalities are required?

2. We are launching a new product. Should we protect the name? What is the difference between a product brand/a service brand/ the brand of a collection/ a mid, high, low-range brand/a house brand? How do I know if the name is available? What formalities are required?

3. Our group of companies seeks to create a label that guarantees our services. How should we proceed? What is a collective certification trademark or a label of guarantee?

4. I trade under a local/national shop sign. What protection is given to a shop sign/signage? Should I also file a trademark? Is it not enough that the sign is registered at the Company Names Registrar?

5. We provide services under our company name. Do we enjoy the same protection as trademark protection? Can we rely on the company name rights to stop someone registering the name as a trademark?

6. I trade under a name that is not registered as a trademark. What recourse do I have if someone reproduces or imitates the name? Why should I register?

7. How long before my mark is registered nationally/internationally?

8. Should I register a French/EU/International trademark? What are the pros and cons?

9. Our company has changed its name but the Trademark Registry does not reflect the change. What are the consequences if I do not register the change?

10. I have noticed that the Twitter account of a company is identified under a similar name to my trademark but that no goods or services are offered. Is this still infringement or use in the course of trade?

11. How can I be informed as to the marks that my competitor is registering? Should I watch my mark to ensure it is not imitated by third parties? What tools are used to watch? What type of investigation is necessary?

12. There is a very similar trademark to mine that is in use on the market. Before filing a complaint or a cease and desist letter, what type of proof will I need to go to court?

13. INPI has notified our company that our trademark application is rejected. How can I contest the rejection? If the objection is based on the distinctive character of the mark? If the objection is based on the rights of a third party (administrative opposition)? In what deadline? What changes were made in the new Law?

14. My company’s mark is under licence and I have noticed that the licensee is not respecting the terms of the license contract. Is this contractual liability? Can I sue for infringement if the contract says nothing?

1. The web site presentation of my company was outsourced but we furnished the texts, the photos and precise instructions as to how the site should be presented. Who is the owner of the intellectual property rights in the website?

2. We have an agency contract with an advertising agency who created our marketing campaign for France. Can we use the same advertising campaign for other countries or for other formats/uses?

3. We intend to reuse and adapt an article written by one of the salaried authors of our magazine. As we have already paid him for the work, can we not reuse for free?

4. We have been working with an author for many years and paying him for work done, without having a written contract. The invoices do not indicate what uses were authorised. How do we know what we can or cannot do?

5. Our company’s audio-visual archives contain films produced by salaried film directors and by independent film directors. Should I make a difference? What needs to be addressed before use of the films?

6. I have conceived a special shop concept/outlay evidenced by drawings and photos that have no date on them. Why is the proof of the date of the creation important and how do I prove?

7. Our Marketing Department has put together a press file for a product launch of a cosmetic product. To give credit to the product, we refer to scientific opinion and research and cite abundantly certain authors. I am told that I can only briefly cite. What is acceptable?

8. For our advertising campaign, we contracted with an advertising agency that created the concept and image of the ad. Once we had agreed on the concept and image, a photograph was contracted to produce the image. Who has the IP rights to the work: the artistic director of the agency or the photograph or both?

9. Several authors jointly wrote a work dedicated to the theme of chocolate. Some parts were clearly written by one person, others by others and for some parts, it is not clear who did what. How do you divide out the IP rights to the work?

10. The Instructions to use of several of our products have been copied and imitated by a competitor. Do I have author rights on the Instructions to use?

COPYRIGHT & AUTHOR
RIGHTS

DOMAIN NAMES & NEW
TECHNOLOGIES

1. I am building my website for my restaurant but see that the domain name is squatted by a competitor. How do I fight against cybersquatting?

2. I am not currently using my domain name. Can I prevent others from using the same name relying on the unused domain name?

3. We broadcast our television channel in several countries. Can I rely only on a .com registration or should I also register country extensions of the domain name? How do I streamline my domain name portfolio?

4. A third party is using our trademark as a domain name access to a pornographic website. What can I do? Should I sue or file arbitration? What strategy?

5. A cyber squatter proposes to sell me back the domain name corresponding to my trademark for a sum of money. Is this enough to prove bad faith?

1. Each season, our company creates a dozen or so models of clothing. What is the best way to protect them?

2. Our industrial design registration has expired. Can I still renew? If not, can I consider I still have protection and of what sort?

3. Our company designed a display stand incorporating different aspects of existing display stands in the public domain. One of our competitors has reproduced an identical replica. Can we consider we have design rights to the display stand?

4. In the pre-contractual phase of discussions with a prospect, we revealed the industrial design of an ongoing project that the prospect then registered. What are my options?

5. I designed drawings of a mechanical spare part that is essentially functional . Can I register the industrial design?

INDUSTRIAL DESIGN

UNFAIR COMPETITION

1. The cover page model of the magazine that we publish was copied/imitated by a competitor. Is the cover page model protected under law?

2. The technical specifications for the manufacture of our products were confidentially revealed to a subcontractor who, in turn, manufactured the product, in its name. How can I prove the misconduct?

3. Our method of evaluation of a perfume’s attractiveness and performance is based on our know-how acquired in different markets around the world. Can I monetise our method and still keep it secret?

4. Our accredited sales method is based on our company’s business secrets. How do we protect business secrets?

5. One of our competitors is using our trademark as a keyword on a search engine to improve its standing. On what basis may I request cease and desistment?

1. A photo taken of me during a private training session is being used in an advertising campaign for the company that provided the training. My authorisation should have been requested, is this not so?

2. Posts appearing on social media contain private and wrongful information that I consider damaging. Who is responsible in this case and how should I proceed?

3. Can a press magazine use a photo taken of me during a public protest to illustrate an article written on the protest?

4. Former and old photographs and comments I made in the social media are now incompatible with my current profession. Do I have the right to have them withdrawn? How?

5. Photos taken of me (an artist) during a live show are being reused on the cover of a CD not related to the live show. How can I have these photos removed and obtain reparation?

PERSONALITY & PRIVACY
RIGHTS

ADVERTISING LAW

1. A supermarket store brand is comparing its store branded product with my trademarked product in a comparative advertisement that I deem damaging and deprecatory. Can I have the advertisement removed from the market?

2. A non-competing company is comparing the qualities of our well-known brand to its services in a totally different field of activity. Is this acceptable?

3. We are working on an advertising campaign for an alcoholic drink. What should we avoid so that the ad will be acceptable under law?

4. In an evidently humorous advertising campaign, one of the clients of our agency is openly mocking the trademark of a well-known company. Is parody acceptable?

5. Should everything said in an advertising campaign be fact checked to avoid competitors saying such facts are misleading?