Hermès has triumphed in a fresh conflict with counterfeiters after outlawing the replication (and sale) of its NFT bags earlier this year. For time, the company’s jewels is under scrutiny rather than its well-known bags. especially those with its storied “anchor chain” motif. The luxury brand filed a lawsuit in 2017 against a French business that was selling a number of items that copied the design of its anchor chain jewellery. The dispute was recently resolved in May after protracted legal proceedings, with the Cour de Cassation declaring in favour of Hermès and affirming the Court of Appeal’s judgement.
The anchor chain jewelry’s originality was confirmed by the Court of Appeal’s decision on January 11, 2022. The company that the saddler sued was specifically found guilty of copyright violations and unfair and parasitic business practises. The court decided that anchor chain jewelery is not in the public domain, despite what the manufacturer claimed. The Court of Appeal determined that they were covered by copyright due to the combination of their original qualities.
Robert Dumas, the first non-Hermès family manager since the company’s founding (he married one of the Hermès heiresses), designed the renowned bracelet in 1938 after being inspired by the chain connecting tall ships to their anchors while on vacation in Normandy. The bracelet is comprised of a chain with links that are interlaced and fastens with a T-shaped clasp.
When it first hit the market, it became a huge hit. The brand’s hallmark piece of jewellery is the anchor chain bracelet, one of the best-selling bracelets in the world. Since then, the design has also been employed in necklaces, long necklaces, cufflinks, rings, and earrings. According to the Court of Appeal’s decision, Hermès Sellier is the owner of the commercial rights to the 1938-created jewellery design known as the “chaîne d’ancre” for a period of 70 years following the author’s passing, or until January 1, 2049.
When it first hit the market, it became a huge hit. The brand’s hallmark piece of jewellery is the anchor chain bracelet, one of the best-selling bracelets in the world. Since then, the design has also been employed in necklaces, long necklaces, cufflinks, rings, and earrings. According to the Court of Appeal’s decision, Hermès Sellier is the owner of the commercial rights to the 1938-created jewellery design known as the “chaîne d’ancre” for a period of 70 years following the author’s passing, or until January 1, 2049.
“In this favourable ruling, the Court found that the ‘anchor chain’ became a flagship model for the opulent store because of the marketing and related promotional investment made in a whole line of jewellery employed by Hermès for decades. Union des Fabricants (Unifab) stated in a press release that “the use of the main characteristics that refer, in the collective unconscious, to this house constitutes unequivocal fraudulent usurpation and unfair competition.” The case was made public by the group for the promotion and defence of intellectual property rights, which unites 200 businesses from all fields of endeavour.
“This decision is to be applauded because the legal stance supports the efforts of producers to protect their works and, in turn, their consumers, 37% of whom in France have purchased a counterfeit good believing it to be authentic. The three major traits of counterfeiters are deception, swindling, and fraud, according to Delphine Sarfati-Sobreira, general manager of Unifab.
