In a ruling of September 11, 2024, the Paris Court of Appeal ruled on accusations of unfair competition between the French company Sovedis and the British company Hydrachem, both active in the distribution of water disinfection tablets.
Sovedis is the distributor of “Aquatabs” tablets and accused Hydrachem, the manufacturer of “Oasis” tablets of deceptive practices and overdosing in active ingredient. In return, Hydrachem accused Sovedis of making misleading claims about its own product, notably by claiming a “patented formula”.
Sovedis distributes Aquatabs water purification tablets in France. For several years, it has supplied the French army. Hydrachem distributes Oasis tablets and was selected by the French army since 2016 for combat rations. Sovedis accuses Hydrachem of selling tablets containing a higher dosage than advertised (5 mg instead of the stated 3.5 mg) and misleading consumers by claiming that its tablets are effective against diseases such as bilharzia, without conclusive proof.
The Paris Commercial Court initially rejected Sovedis’ claims, ruling that the evidence of overdosing and deception was not convincing enough. Sovedis appealed against this judgment, calling for an expert opinion to confirm the actual dosage of Oasis tablets. Hydrachem lodged a counterclaim against Sovedis’ commercial practices, in particular the use of misleading terms such as “patented formula”.
The Court of Appeal largely upheld the original judgment and rejected Sovedis’ claims for unfair competition. The Court did examine in detail Hydrachem’s accusations against Sovedis, in particular Sovedis’ claim that Aquatabs tablets are the subject of a “patented formula”.
The Court ruled that this “patented formula” claim was misleading since Sovedis had been unable to provide any evidence of a patent for Aquatabs.
Hydrachem had demonstrated that Sovedis had neither a patent or patent application nor a patent license for this product, making this statement misleading.
The Court pointed out that this statement could mislead consumers into believing that the Aquatabs product had a patent-protected innovation, a guarantee of quality and safety which is not the case.
In addition, the Court recalled that Article L.615-12 of the French Intellectual Property Code prohibits abusive claims to ownership of a patent, on pain of a fine.
The Court therefore ordered Sovedis to remove the words “formule brevetée” (patented formula) from the Aquatabs product data sheet and from all other communication media. The injunction was accompanied by a fine of 500 euros per day of delay if the company failed to comply within one month.
The Court emphasized the seriousness of this practice which, in its view, constituted a breach of professional diligence and could affect consumers’ economic behavior. However, none of the parties was awarded damages as there was insufficient evidence of direct economic harm.
This ruling highlights the importance for companies of not abusively claiming rights that are not protected, on pain of legal sanctions. Here, protected features such as a patent, elsewhere a registered trademark.
 |
Anne Levy
Partner, Trademark & Design Attorney and European Counsel with the EUIPO
|
