Paris Court of Appeal – November 19, 2008
Philip Morris took revocation action in law against two NEXT trademarks referring in particular to clothes, on the basis of their non use, and putting forward the French Evin law, under which those marks were viewed as obstacles to the use of Philip Morris’ identical trademark NEXT.
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The Court of Appeal refused to recognize a standing to sue to Philip Morris because its filing constituted a fault that detrimentally affected prior rights, and in consequence its action was not motivated by legitimate interest.
This decision deserves to be challenged, as the Court reproaches Philip Morris for filing while they knew about the prior trademarks. But if Philip Morris had not filed in the first place, one can wonder whether the Court would have recognized any standing to sue either. If we go by what the Court of Appeal says, Philip Morris as a tobacco manufacturer would not be eligible to any action…
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