Puig wins perfume imitation lawsuit against Saphir

Barcelona (CNA). - The multinational Catalan fragrance company Puig has won its perfume imitation lawsuit against Saphir, a company from Zaragoza dedicated to commercialising imitations of known fragrances. The Trademark Court from Alicante found Saphire guilty of “unfair competition” and ordered the Zaragozan company to remove its products from the market and destroy them. Puig accused Saphir of selling brands called ‘Saphir’, ‘Caravan’ and ‘IAP’ specifying that they were imitations of Carolina Herrera, Paco Rabanne and Nina Ricci, international brands run by Puig. 

Saphir has been ordered to remove its products from the market and destroy them after the Community Trade Mark (CTM) Court from Alicante ruled that the company from Zaragoza was guilty of “unfair competition” for imitating brands run by the Catalan fashion and fragrances multinational Puig. The Court also ordered Saphir to compensate Puig for damages.

The Catalan company founded by the Puig family 100 years ago was suing Saphir for commercialising products branded ‘Saphir’, ‘Caravan’ and ‘IAP’ specifying on their packaging that they were imitations of Carolina Herrera, Paco Rabanne and Nina Ricci, international perfume brands run by the multinational Catalan company.

The CTM Court judgment considered Saphir to have infringed upon the trademarks owned by Puig and that it is guilty of “unfair competition” for unlawful advertisement and unfair advantage from the reputation of the Community trademark.

Puig declared that this judgement is “very relevant” because it is the second time that the Catalan multinational has won a lawsuit of this kind. Some months ago, Puig won its case against Equivalenza, a firm also dedicated to selling imitations, for trademark infringement and unfair competition.

Both verdicts confirm the brand owner’s right to protect itself against perfume imitation, a growing sector in Catalonia.