Online web shop Hey Joon is suing the Air France group over the newly created subsidiary Joon, the shop is claiming €1,500 for each use of the name “Joon”.
David against Goliath.
Hey Joon, the small online web shop for women’s clothing and accessories, is suing Air France, the reason: Air France group is launching flights to Berlin, Barcelona, Porto and Lisbon with the new subsidiary baptized … Joon. Based in Paris, the company Hey Joon -created and run for two years by a 33-year old woman- went to the court of Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine). The lawyers of Hey Joon believe that there is a risk of confusion.
“Our client is selling clothes while the airline is planning to offer its passengers shopping tours in Paris,” said lawyers Gilles-Jean and Jean-Hubert Portejoie. “It’s shocking: Air France has chosen this name however they clearly knew there was a web shop with the same name *.”
* On 21 July, one day after the official announcement Hey Joon received a (personal) e-mail from an Air France employee working in the marketing department of the company. Clearly showing that Air France knew about the existence of the web shop.
From August, after the creation of Joon, Hey Joon suffered a serious drop in sales and was ranked lower in the Google search engine. Hey Joon claims €1,500 each time Air France uses the name Joon and €30,000 as a provision for the damages incurred.
An Air France spokeswoman said: “The two names are used for completely different businesses, there is no risk of confusion. Just like Mont Blanc dessert and Mont Blanc pens.”
The trial is expected to be held mid-January.
