Tour de who?

It’s that time of the year again – While the battle for the European Football Championship is being decided and Paris is preparing for the Olympic Games, almost 200 cyclists are also pedaling through the (Italian and) French landscape. A lot has happened since this Tour de France was first held in 1903. On a sporting level. But also in the field of advertising and commerce, and also trademark law.

As early as 1966, the organization recognized the value of the name for the world-famous cycling spectacle. It had ‘Tour de France’ registered as a trademark. So that no one could cycle away with that name. The Société du Tour de France thought itself safe. At least until the German fitness chain FitX applied for registration for its spinning program ‘Tour de X‘ in 2017.

Confusion?

Naturally, the Société immediately took action and filed an objection with the EUIPO. They invoked their trademark rights and stated that ‘Tour de X’ could cause confusion among the public, which could reduce the strength of the Le Tour de France brand.

Ach…

However, the European Union Intellectual Property Office ruled that there was no likelihood of confusion and that ‘Tour de X’ would not have an unfair advantage or cause damage to the trademarks of Tour de France. The General Court of the European Union also took that view. It confirmed the decision by stating that the common element ‘Tour de’ has a weak distinctive character and is often used in the world of cycling races…

Not distinctive enough

Understandable? Absolutely. A bit sour for the Society? Sure! While they thought they had protected their trademark well for decades, ‘Tour de’ now appears to be too generic and not sufficiently distinctive to lead to confusion with similar brand names.

Also in the leading group?

The moral of this story: protecting a brand properly is apparently quite a challenge. But fortunately one that Bakker&Verkuijl has been doing confortably for years. So if this story made you think about protecting your brand? Please contact one of our trademark attorneys. We are happy to see how things can be done (well or) better.