After a decision by the National Institute of Industrial Property this summer, the LVMH group will no longer be able to use the name Vendôme for its jewelry and watchmaking products.
The LVMH group, partial owner of the Vendôme brand, will no longer be able to use the name as a selling point for its jewelry and watchmaking products. This was the decision of the INPI (the French National Institute of Industrial Property) in July 2022, following a request for nullity made in June 2021 by the jewelers Van Cleef & Arpels and Cartier, subsidiaries of the Swiss group Richemont.
The National Institute of Industrial Property considered that the use of the term Vendôme was understood as a reference to the Place Vendôme and that, consequently, it would be “perceived by the public […] as a sales argument capable of influencing consumer preferences”, without being “a guarantee of the commercial origin of the products”.
If LVMH used the name of Vendôme, it is because the small town of Loir-et-Cher had given the luxury group this right to sell jewelry. In May 2021, LVMH had indeed bought the trademark of the city for the sum of 10,000 euros. The decision, encouraged by the mayor, Laurent Brillard, had at the time made news.
By giving up the name, the idea of the mayor was to allow the creation of 500 jobs in the town thanks to the opening of a new leather goods factory, inaugurated by the luxury group in February 2022. This was without taking into account the competition, with the nullity appeal filed with the INPI in June 2021 by the jewelers Van Cleef & Arpels and Cartier, who won their case a little over a year later.
Read also > Luxury jewellery: LVMH takes over the name of the commune of Vendôme
Featured photo : © LVMH
