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Just last year, Gucci – along with a number of other well-known luxury perfume makers – scored a similar victory after using the same technique against Spanish company Equivalenza. The ironically named outfit, which was peddling rip-off scents, was found guilty on all three counts; illegal copying of original perfume, unfair competition and business reputation abuse.
— Read more in Perfume makers are fighting back against an illegal fake scent boom at Wired.
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The New York Times has an interesting article that considers the results of recent rulings on the issue of perfume and intellectual property (see ruling in the Netherlands that said perfumes are covered by copyright, L'Oreal case against perfume copycats, French decision that perfumes can't be copyrighted). Are perfumers artists, or artisans? Jean Claude Ellena:
“When I write a perfume, the scents are the words,” he said. “And with these words I construct a story. There is breathing, and there are transitions, just as in sentences. Perfume, first of all, is a mental construction…”
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In contrast to a ruling in the Netherlands last week which determined that perfumes are protected by copyright laws, a French high court has determined that the "recipe of ingredients that make up a perfume cannot be protected by copyright". Read more in The Toqueville Connection. (link no longer working, sorry!)
Richmond, Virginia has its own local version of Bond no. 9: local perfumer Amy George has created a series of perfumes celebrating Richmond landmarks. The fragrances include Libby Hill, Maymont and Byrd Theater. Read more in richmond.com (link no longer working, sorry!), or check out her store at etsy.
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In a case that may have far-reaching implications for the perfume industry, L'Oreal has won a lawsuit against a company that copied the "olfactory architecture" of its fragrances:
A scent is a work of art just like a painting or a symphony, a French court has ruled in a case seen as a major victory in the battle against copycat fragrances.
After decades of failed attempts to copyright a particular perfume, cosmetics giant L'Oreal finally persuaded the court that its perfumes were entitled to the French droits d'auteur (authorial rights) that protect their creators from imitation for 70 years.
Read the rest of the article at the news.telegraph.