Genuine use

Genuine use (usage sérieux, literally “serious use”) is the standard of real, commercial trademark use that a French or EU mark must show once it is challenged for non-use. A mark is not required to be used to be filed, registered or renewed — but after five years on the register it becomes vulnerable, and the yardstick applied at that point is genuine use.

What genuine use means

Genuine use is use in accordance with the essential function of a trademark: to identify the commercial origin of the goods and services, in order to create or maintain a market for them. It must be real and public-facing, not merely symbolic. Courts and offices look at the nature of the goods, the characteristics of the market, and the scale, frequency and duration of use. Small volumes can qualify if the use is genuine in context; a single token sale contrived only to keep the registration alive does not. Purely internal use, or use never seen by the market, will not count.

Two places it bites

• Revocation for non-use. A third party can seek cancellation of a mark unused for five years after registration; the owner must then prove genuine use (or a proper reason for not using it).
• Proof of use in opposition. When an opponent relies on an earlier mark more than five years old, the applicant can put it to proof: the opponent must demonstrate genuine use of that earlier mark for the goods and services invoked, failing which those goods and services drop out of the opposition.

The comparison with US law

US law also demands real use — its “use in commerce” requirement (Lanham Act §45) likewise excludes token use made merely to reserve rights, and requires bona fide use in the ordinary course of trade. But the architecture differs sharply:

• In the US, use is policed continuously through specimens and the Section 8/71 declarations filed during the life of the registration. Fail to file, and the registration dies.
• In France and the EU, there are no specimens and no periodic use declarations. Non-use surfaces only when someone attacks — in a revocation action or a proof-of-use request. Until then, an unused registration sits undisturbed. Genuine use is thus a litigation and opposition standard, not a maintenance formality.

A concrete example

A US company registered a mark in France in several classes but only ever sold products in one of them. Five years on, a competitor seeking to clear the way files a non-use revocation. The company can defend the class it actually worked, but is likely to lose the classes it never used — the registration will be trimmed to the goods and services backed by genuine use.

Where you will meet this term

Genuine use is the defense standard behind revocation for non-use and a decisive move when responding to a trademark opposition. It is also why unused breadth is a liability in trademark litigation in France. See also trademark revocation and trademark renewal.

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