Ownership of the name of the ASBH: the Biterroise association steps up to the plate

ASBH, un nom que veut récupérer par l’association. Midi Libre – SYLVIE CAMBON

À travers un communiqué, l’association ASBH répond à Constance Calandri qui a repris le nom du club et lui fait état des raisons pour lesquelles elle lance un recours en justice pour récupérer ce nom.

After a few days of reflection, following the press release from Constance Calandri, the Biterroise who appropriated, via the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI), the name "ASBH&quot ;, the ASBH association saw fit to respond to him. And does not hide taking legal action, the case, according to our sources, being presented before a Marseille court, competent for this type of legal action.

Here is the letter sent by the association: "This press release follows numerous interventions in the press by Madame Constance Calandri who claims to now be the sole owner of the name and logo of the   ;rsquo;ASBH. And this, following trademark registrations that it made last November with the INPI taking advantage, by pure opportunity, of the absence of renewal of the existing trademark of the ’ rsquo;ASBH.

Contrary to what is claimed, 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. And its rights to its logo date from the year 2010, the date from which the ASBH adopted it.

In such a context, 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. Article L.711-3 of the Intellectual Property Code effectively prohibits the filing of trademarks which infringe prior rights and in particular: "3rd A name or company name, if there is a risk of confusion in the minds of the public; […] 6e Copyright" .

Infringement of prior rights

In this case, Madame Calandri 's filings effectively infringe the prior rights of the ASBH on its corporate name (3rd) as well as on the original graphics of its logo, protected by the law of’ rsquo;author (6th) and even more seriously to his values, his history and his notoriety. Above all, these deposits are legally qualifying as fraud in the sense given by the Court of Cassation to the extent that they were carried out with knowledge of the rights of the ASBH and with the obvious aim of harming it with a view to obtaining a clearly political advantage.

"The ASBH founded to defend its rights"

L’ASBH is therefore perfectly justified in defending its rights against what is nothing other than usurpation and in claiming ownership trademarks that Madame Calandri had no standing to file, by application of the provisions of article L.714-6 of the Intellectual Property Code according to which: "If a registration has been requested either in fraud of the rights of a third party, or in violation of a legal or conventional obligation, the person who considers himself to have a right to the mark can claim his ownership in court& ;quot;.

Moreover, if Madame Calandri 's intentions had been laudable and disinterested, she would have spontaneously informed the ASBH of the situation and would have at least carried out deposits on behalf of ASBH and not for its personal benefit. Nor would it have caused this media uproar, which is as damaging as it is useless."