VEEPEE - What is behind the change of name of Vente-Privée?
At the beginning of January, the Vente-Privée site was at the heart of a controversy due to distorted prices.. The Directorate-General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) had in fact singled out the company Vente-Privée, which gave its customers the illusion of doing good business, by indicating fictitious reference prices. The event-driven sales website, for its part, had contested the existence of fraudulent strategies. On January 25, Vente-Privée returned to the heart of the news, but this time because of its name change. The company announced that it was going to rename itself. From now on, we will have to talk about Veepee.
Necessities of a name change
With this name change, Vente-Privée no doubt hopes to dispel rumours about its false bargains. The timing seems perfect. But another reason is the internationalization of the brand. Indeed, since its creation in France in 2001, Vente-privée.com has grown considerably and is now present in 14 countries. Half of its turnover of 3.7 billion euros (2018) comes from abroad.
In addition, by choosing the name Veepee, the company is pursuing a goal of brand standardization. In fact, Vente-Privée is known under different names around the world: Eboutic in Switzerland, Designer & Friends in Denmark, Privalia in Italy and Spain, and so on.
Finally, unlike Vente-Privée, VEEPEE is easily pronounceable in all languages. Above all, the name VEEPEE offers a significant advantage: it is a legally strong brand.
VEEPEE: a legally stronger brand
Vente-Privée owns an extensive brand portfolio with more than 150 national, European and international brands. These marks are themselves very varied, ranging from word marks to figurative marks.. And yet, the company has always had difficulty registering and defending its flagship brand "Vente-Privée".
Vente-Privée : a descriptive trademark that is difficult to defend
Moreover, while the company succeeded in registering the word mark VENTE-PRIVEE.COM with the INPI in 2009, it has not yet been able to register the trademark VENTE-PRIVEE.COM with the INPI. has never been able to obtain registration of the equivalent mark in the European Union, due to its descriptive nature. The European Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) is indeed much more demanding than the French Office. As a result, the private sale trademark is only protected at the European level in a semi-figurative form. This solution constitutes a real limit for the company, which cannot change its logo. Indeed, a trademark is only valid if it is used in accordance with the application.
Moreover, although the owner of several homonymous trademarks, Vente-Privée could not claim a monopoly on the expression. However, in the context of a four-year dispute with Showroomprivé concerning the purchase of the keywords "vente-privée.com", the company had won its case. The judges found that the mark VENTE-PRIVEE.COM had acquired distinctive character through use.. However, this decision was limited in scope. As the term "private sale" refers to a type of event-driven sale, the company cannot prohibit a competitor from using it, as long as the words are necessary for its business. Only the expression "VENTE-PRIVEE.COM" is truly defensible.
VEEPEE: a distinctive trademark registered in 2000
Long before the name change was announced, Vente-Privée had begun to protect its rights. It registered the French trademark VEEPEE in May 2017. Then it extended this protection internationally.... In November 2017, it will proceed with the registration of the corresponding European and international trademarks. This time, EUIPO does not refuse registration. The VEEPEE trademark is indeed perfectly distinctive.
But Vente-Privée has also secured its back by acquiring a old brand VeePeewhich had been filed in 2000 for a company of the same name specialising in information technology. The company itself was acquired by SPIE in 2010.the brand was no longer exploited. Rather than fearing action from the owner of the earlier trademark, Vente-Privée approached the owner to buy his trademark from him. The INPI registered the change of ownership in October 2018. This allows the website to benefit from nearly 20 years of anteriority on the name VEEPEE.
These precautions show that the company had already anticipated this change long ago.