istock-172301500ramberg-1
13 March 2018Trademarks

French far-right leader accuses rival of fraudulent symbol use

Marine Le Pen, the leader of the French far-right political party National Front, is reportedly taking legal action against another right-leaning political party over similarities between the parties’ symbols.

Le Pen, who is president of the National Front party, announced that she plans on changing the party’s name to National Rally. The news comes after Le Pen’s presidential aspirations came to a halt last year when she lost the presidential race to Emmanuel Macron.

However, the name change has reportedly been opposed by politician Igor Kurek, president of the Rassemblement National—which translates into English as National Rally.

Kurek reportedly wrote in a letter: “Dear Marine, the RN already exists and you can’t deny that when it has stood against your candidates several times since 2014.

“The RN is Gaullist and republican right, the FN [National Front] is extreme right. The FN will NEVER be the RN and the RN will NEVER be the new FN.”

However, in a statement, the National Front said that the National Rally name has been registered at the National Institute of Industrial Property ( INPI) by Frederick Bigrat, leader of L’Avant Garde, another political party.

The National Front said that it had purchased the rights to the trademark on February 22, 2018. The sale is being processed by INPI, with an expected publication date in six months.

In a statement, the National Front said: “It has already been agreed that the transfer of rights to the National Front will take place once the members have approved the new name that will be proposed to them.”

In response to Kurek’s allegations of stealing the party name, it was reported that Le Pen would take legal action over Kurek’s “fraudulent” use of the National Front’s logo.

The National Front’s party symbol consists of a blue and red flame, while the Rassemblement National’s also consists of a blue and red flame over a two-barred cross, known as the ‘Cross of Lorraine’.

Did you enjoy reading this story?  Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories like this sent straight to your inbox.

Today’s top stories

Cole Schotz appoints IP co-chair

EU court puts Hotelbeds’ TM to bed

Whole Foods loses UK trademark opposition

Patent suit against Google revived in precedential decision

Already registered?

Login to your account

To request a FREE 2-week trial subscription, please signup.
NOTE - this can take up to 48hrs to be approved.

Two Weeks Free Trial

For multi-user price options, or to check if your company has an existing subscription that we can add you to for FREE, please email Adrian Tapping at atapping@newtonmedia.co.uk