Ownership of the ASBH brand: the legal battle promises to be tough

Va-t-il falloir enlever le nom du club sur les maillots et les shorts ? Midi Libre – Michael Esdourrubailh

The ASBH association intends to recover ownership of the club brand which Constance Calandri has seized by depositing it with Inpi.

 

The legal battle between the ASBH association and Constance Calandri is well underway and visibly, on the court front, on both sides, we have brought out the big artillery. The conflict began around two weeks ago when Biterroise announced that it had become the owner of the ASBH brand, via its registration with the National Institute of Intellectual Property (Inpi). It had fallen back into the public domain, the leaders of the ASBH association having forgotten to renew their property title. They thought, in fact, that they had until 2030 to do so: "Negligence", as they recognized, which therefore did not escape Constance Calandri.

"The ASBH has not lost any of its rights to its name and logo", affirms the association.

Since then, the two parties have only communicated through their lawyers and responded to each other through press releases. The last one comes from the Biterroise lawyer. It follows that of the ASBH association. Its leaders explain, among other things, that "ASBH has not lost any of its rights to its name and logo. Its rights to its name date from 1991, the date on which the association adopted this corporate name. Its rights to its logo date from 2010, the date from which ASBH adopted it. There is nothing legal or regular about Ms. Calandri's deposits. They were carried out in violation of the provisions of the Intellectual Property Code and the pre-existing rights of the ASBH."

"Fraud in the sense given by the Court of Cassation"

They add that the "Intellectual Property Code prohibits the filing of trademarks which infringe prior rights and in particular uname or a company name, if there is a risk of confusion in the mind of the public or copyrights. The es deposits of Madame Calandri infringe the prior rights of the ASBH on its corporate name as well as on the original graphics of its logo, protected by law of authorship and even more seriously, to its values, its history and its notoriety. These deposits are legally qualifying as fraud in the sense given by the Court of Cassation to the extent that they were made with knowledge of the rights of the ASBH and with the obvious aim of harming it with a view to ;obtain a clearly political advantage."

On the side of the association, we assure that"If Ms. Calandri's intentions had been laudable and disinterested, she would have spontaneously informed the ASBH of the situation and would have at least made the deposits in the name of the ASBH and not for her personal benefit. Nor would she have caused this media uproar, which is as damaging as it is useless. We sincerely hope that Ms. Calandri will spontaneously return these deposits to the ASBH which is the sole legitimate owner."

Constance Calandri puts the pressure on

This will not be the case if we stick to the response of the new owner of the brand. Because Constance Calandri does not’ doesn't intend to give up: "Whatever the date of its creation, the association no longer has rights to the ASBH […]" And& nbsp;to cite in turn the Intellectual Property Code: "Use in business life for  products or services". The Biterroise lawyer adds that "the’INPI defines counterfeiting as the reproduction, imitation or total or partial use of an intellectual property right without the authorization of its owner. This offense is punishable by three years' imprisonment and a fine of 300,000 euros, or even seven years' imprisonment and 750 000 € fine’in an organized gang."

Enough to put pressure on the association. Constance Calandri finally regrets "not having been the subject of an attack on the association.’ no letter to try to find an amicable solution, but that the ASBH association prefers to contact and threaten it publicly gag procedures. Under these conditions, it is not serious to sincerely hope that it will spontaneously return these deposits to the ASBH.

"Don't give importance to these people anymore"

On the side of the ASBH association, Eric Freitas, the president, no longer wants to fuel the controversy: "We we no longer want to give importance to these people, he assures. We will therefore no longer publish press releases. We're not here to create a buzz."

The ball is in the hands of justice, a procedure having been launched by the association.

Constance Calandri wants to join the club's supervisory board

In her press release, Constance Calandri said she had directly asked Jean-Michel Vidal, the chairman of the management board of the professional sector, to join the supervisory board with the aim of &quot ;ensure the defense of the interests of the club, its players and supporters. Questioned on the subject, Jean-Michel Vidal assures "not to have been contacted". In addition, only the shareholders of a company sit on a supervisory board. If an outside person integrates it and this is very rare, it is through an extraordinary assembly and because they bring something to the table. by his  very specific professional role (lawyer, notary…) a certain expertise.

With regard to SASP Béziers rugby (the professional sector), approximately once a month, the members of the supervisory board meet with those of the board of directors (Jean-Michel Vidal, Bruno Boivin and& ;nbsp;Didier Miquel) responsible for managing the club.  The supervisory board, among other things, looks at this management in order to monitor its operation.

The professional sector is not worried

On the side of the SASP Béziers rugby and its leaders, we are not overly worried about the battle that has started between the association and Constance Calandri. At the end of the season, everyone prefers to look at the pitches and the deadlines which promise to be colorful. And this, even if theoretically, sticking to the law, Biterroise having registered the brand, no one can anymore use it. To date, no procedure has been launched against the SASP. If the affair continued, beyond the club, the City (Béziers) but also the Department (Hérault) would have the means to step up to the plate with a powerful legal arsenal behind them… President Jean-Michel Vidal recalls, for his part, that the SASP pays a certain sum (around 60,000 euros) to the association through an agreement in order to be able to use the ASBH brand:  "As is the case in the majority of clubs, it’s a means of remuneration intended to involve the professional sector in the functioning of the club ;association". If it was necessary to change the name at all costs, the SASP would certainly keep the current name and would only modify it, by adding, for example, a letter or a sign. As for the flocking of jerseys or other shorts, it's the end of the season and the stock will be renewed in a few weeks. But no decision has, for the moment, been made regarding a possible change. In terms of derivative products (goodies, outfits), at the end of the season, there are not a plethora of them left. In short, a story of ownership of the ASBH brand which does not really worry the leaders of the professional sector who have other thoughts in mind.

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