EU Trademark Court Upholds Ban on Mention of Lacoste by “Smell Alike” Perfume Manufacturer

According to the International Law Office website, “the Alicante Provincial Court (acting as the EU Trademark Court) dismissed Equivalenza Retail, SL’s appeal against the Alicante Commercial Court Number 2 judgment of 13 February 2017, in which it had been sentenced for infringing various perfume trademarks owned by Hugo Boss, Gucci and Lacoste in the context of its smell-alike business.” Lacoste and several other brands had filed suit against Equivalenza for selling and marketing “smell-alike” perfumes and making unauthorised use of their registered trademarks both in comparison lists and orally in commercial speech.

The earlier judgement had ordered Equivalenza to:

  • cease and desist from marketing its perfumes using the plaintiffs’ trademarks.
  • withdraw and destroy its comparison lists and any other means of advertising containing the plaintiffs’ trademarks.
  • compensate the plaintiffs and publish the judgment.

You can read the details of the case here.