A trademark which contains or consists of a geographical indication for wines or spirits not having this origin may not be registered or may be invalidated pursuant to Article L 711-3 of the Intellectual Property Code, which provides:
"The following may not be adopted as a mark or an element of a mark:
(a)signs excluded by Article 6ter of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property of 20 March 1883, as revised;
(b)signs contrary to public policy or morality or whose use is forbidden by law;
(c)signs liable to mislead the public, particularly as regards the nature, quality or geographical origin of the goods or services."
In the Bill for the transposition of the TRIPS Agreement currently before Parliament, the French authorities have proposed, in the Intellectual Property Code, a strengthening of this protection expressly relating to Article 23.2.
