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Triet, Grégoire --- "Interim Relief, Final Injunctions and Freedom of Speech: The French Greenpeace and Danone Litigation" [2006] ELECD 241; in Phillips, Jeremy (ed), "Trade Marks at the Limit" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2006)

Book Title: Trade Marks at the Limit

Editor(s): Phillips, Jeremy

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781845427382

Section: Chapter 13

Section Title: Interim Relief, Final Injunctions and Freedom of Speech: The French Greenpeace and Danone Litigation

Author(s): Triet, Grégoire

Number of pages: 12

Extract:

13. Interim relief, final injunctions and
freedom of speech: the French
Greenpeace and Danone litigation
Grégoire Triet

1. INTRODUCTION
Article L 713-1 of the French Intellectual Property Code lays down the prin-
ciple according to which `registration of a mark shall confer on its owner a
right of property in that mark for the goods and services he has designated'.
This conception of the trade mark right as a proprietary right explains why,
under French law, trade marks have traditionally enjoyed very high status
and strong protection. The French Supreme Court has on several occasions
held, in wording which has become classic, that `the right in a mark is
absolute over the whole territory and confers on its proprietor the right to
bring an infringement action against any person who violates it, whether in
good or bad faith'.1
The only statutory exceptions to this pure monopoly are contained in
Articles L 713-4 (inability to prevent parallel imports of EEA origin) and L
713-6 (inability to prevent use of a similar sign as (a) a company name, trade
name or sign, where such use is either earlier than the registration or made
by another person using his own surname in good faith; (b) a reference
which is necessary to state the intended purpose of the product or service, in
particular as an accessory or spare part, provided no confusion exists as to
their origin).
For a long time, French case law has appeared most reluctant to ...