France Moves towards Cigarette Plain Packaging

Source from:  World Intellectual Property Review (uk)  07/04/2014

France is considering becoming the latest country to introduce a plain packaging requirement for cigarettes, as part of tough new anti-smoking laws.

According to reports, the government will put together a law that would stop brand owners from displaying their logos and trademarks on cigarette packs.

The French system would follow the example set by Australia and would only allow a brand name in small lettering under a large health warning, Le Figaro newspaper has reported.

The legislation, which is being pushed for by minister for social affairs and health, Marisol Touraine, will be put before the government next month.

Plain packaging for cigarettes has been a controversial issue among trademark owners, which fear their IP rights could be hindered if they are not able to display their names.

Pascal Montredon, president of the Federation of Tobacconists, told Le Figaro he was "deeply shocked" by the proposal.

"We all feel that the government doesn''t know what it is doing. Australia has already introduced plain packaging, and the number of cigarettes sold has actually gone up.

"This measure will make the packets easier to copy and increase the number of counterfeit cigarettes," Montredon said.

Australia pioneered plain packaging for cigarettes in 2012, while New Zealand and the UK have also followed suit and planned similar legislation.

Last week, WIPR reported that the UK government has launched a public consultation on its plans.

The proposal calls for packaging to be in a drab brown colour and wants the name of the brand to appear only once, either on the front, back or bottom of the pack.

In a further twist, IP rights groups from across Europe issued a joint statement last week rejecting similar proposals by the Irish government.

The statement was signed by groups including the European Community Trademarks Association and the Association of Trademarks and Design Rights Practitioners.

It said that "registered trademarks" and the goodwill created by their use on products are rights of property.

It concluded: "Plain packaging laws amount to an indirect legislative expropriation of these valuable property rights." Enditem