Court annuls sale of city name Vendôme to Louis Vuitton

The Administrative Court of Orléans has canceled the sale of the name of the city of Vendôme (Loir-et-Cher) to the Louis Vuitton group for 10,000 euros. In a statement on Thursday, the city administration described the objection as “without any real legal benefit”.

In February 2021, the municipality approved the sale of the city name Vendôme to the French luxury company Louis Vuitton. The prize was 10,000 euros for a period of ten years and was to be used to market jewelry products.

“The city of Vendôme is not ceding its name to Louis Vuitton, a subsidiary of LVMH, but rather the Vendôme brand,” defended Mayor Laurent Brillard to the AFP news agency at the time. This should “only enable the use of the name ‘Vendôme’ for the creation of collections or products in the luxury jewelry sector.”

However, an association had been formed to challenge the sale. The main point of criticism was the price, which was perceived as being too low.

In a decision dated September 24, the Orléans Administrative Court found that such a trademark belongs to the private property of the municipality. It can therefore be sold, which in principle makes a corresponding sales contract possible.

However, the court also found that the municipality “did not justify the requested price of 10,000 euros”. In addition, it was impossible to “check the calculation bases”.

Therefore, the court annulled the order of February 4, 2021, which had approved the sale, for exceeding its jurisdiction.

In a statement, the city administration regretted the objection as one without “real legal benefit”. She pointed out that “the case has been closed since July 1, 2022.” On that date, the French Intellectual Property Institute (INPI) refused to register the name “Vendôme” as a trademark.