DESIGNS – PRESUMPTION OF OWNERSHIP
In a ruling dated 31 January 2024, the French Supreme Court (Cour de Cassation) once again weighed in on the issue of presumption of ownership in favour of the applicant of a design.
Pursuant to Article L.511-9 of the French Intellectual Property Code (Code de la Propriété Intellectuelle), the Court quashed and set aside the ruling of the Bordeaux Court of Appeal – 1st Civil Division (Cour d’Appel de Bordeaux – 1ère Chambre Civile) handed down on 21 June 2022.
The Court of Appeal held that the mere registration of the design, which was the subject of the dispute, did not serve to entitle the assignee to bring an infringement action. The Court justified its decision by the fact that the deed of assignment of this design between the assignee and the creator of the design had not been registered in the French National Design Registry. It should be noted, however, that the design in question had not been filed as a design by its creator, but rather by the assignee, subsequent to the said assignment.
In the light of these circumstances, the French Supreme Court pointed out that, pursuant to the provisions of Article L.511-9 of the French Intellectual Property Code, the protection of a design granted to the creator or their successor in title is acquired through registration and that “the author of the application for registration is, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, considered to be the beneficiary of this protection “.
The Court added that “the presumption of ownership consequently deriving from that provision in favour of the applicant may be rebutted only in the event of an action claiming ownership of the design on the part of the natural person or persons who created the work (…)”, which was not the case in the present dispute.
It therefore ought to be emphasised that only the creator of the design was rightfully entitled to challenge the presumption of ownership of the design.
For further information, visit :
https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/article_lc/LEGIARTI000006279337/2024-03-24/