Premiere – who owns it? Breitling or Chanel?

The U.S. blog “The Fashion Law” (TFL) is currently reporting on a “silent trademark dispute” between Breitling and Chanel that is escalating. The dispute centers on their respective watch lines, “Premier” and “Première.”

The crucial question is: To what extent do luxury brands have rights to the term “PREMIERE”—and can one brand prohibit another from using this term in connection with the marketing and sale of watches?

Chanel’s “Première” watch has been around since 1987, while Breitling claims to have been using the name “Premier” for its watches since the 1940s. Last year, Breitling also launched the “Lady Premier” collection, while Chanel continues to successfully expand its own watch segment.

The overlap is therefore growing. And as a result, it is becoming increasingly difficult to “maintain the coexistence of similarly named watch collections without conflict.” These tensions have now manifested themselves in a series of escalating trademark disputes in the U.S. between the two companies, reports TFL.

Following several cross-objections to the respective trademark applications and various extensions of deadlines since last fall, the conflict now appears to be escalating, writes TFL—a “battle that is no longer merely about the peaceful coexistence of the trademarks, but rather about which of the two parties can claim stronger rights to the designation ‘PREMIERE’ itself.”

Click here for the English-language article with more details.