In a decision handed down on 3 October 2025, the Paris Court of Appeal overturned the judgment of the Paris Judicial Court dated 14 June 2024, recognising that the company La Coque de Nacre was entitled to copyright protection for five of its jewelry designs and to unregistered Community design protection for one of them.
The respondent, Satine, which had imported and marketed near-identical copies of these pieces from China, was found liable for infringement and ordered to pay €50,000 in damages, along with injunctions and destruction measures.
La Coque de Nacre, a French company specialising in the creation and distribution of silver and gold-plated jewelry, markets its designs to professionals under the brand name “Bijoux CN.”
In early 2022, the company discovered that several of its creations (necklaces, bracelets and earrings) were being sold by Satine, a reseller importing low-cost imitations from China.
Following an infringement seizure order issued on 14 June 2022, the bailiff’s report confirmed that five of La Coque de Nacre’s models had been reproduced almost identically.
La Coque de Nacre brought proceedings for copyright and unregistered Community design infringement, and, in the alternative, for unfair competition and parasitism.
While the trial court dismissed the claims, the Court of Appeal took an entirely different view.
The Court began by recalling the principle set out in Articles L.112-1 and L.112-2(10°) of the French Intellectual Property Code, which grants copyright protection to works of applied art that bear the personal imprint of their author, irrespective of their merit or intended use.
Satine argued that the jewelry pieces reflected a generic “bohemian chic” or “ethnic chic” style common in the market and thus lacked originality.
The Court rejected this argument, holding that La Coque de Nacre did not claim protection for a style, but for specific ornamental combinations that reflected free and deliberate creative choices.
Each design was described with precision:
These design choices, the Court held, reflect a distinctive artistic vision, giving each jewel a unique appearance. The five jewelry pieces (models no. 1 to 5) were thus deemed original and protected under copyright law.
La Coque de Nacre also relied on Council Regulation (EC) No. 6/2002 of 12 December 2001, which protects designs that are both new and possess an individual character, as defined in Articles 4 to 6.
The Court held that model no. 1, having been disclosed as early as 2017, no longer benefited from the three-year protection period provided by Article 11 of the Regulation at the time of the action.
However, model no. 5, a pair of earrings with a central cabochon and irregular geometric patterns, met the conditions of novelty and individual character, since it produced a different overall impression on the informed user compared to the earlier design invoked by Satine.
The Court thus granted cumulative protection: copyright and unregistered Community design.
Based on the bailiff’s reports of 12 May and 16 June 2022, the Court noted that Satine’s imported and marketed jewelry reproduced the essential elements of the five protected designs in an identical or almost identical combination.
The minor differences highlighted by Satine were considered insignificant, incapable of altering the overall visual impression on the informed user (Article 10(1) of Regulation No. 6/2002).
Accordingly, the Court found both copyright and design infringement fully established.
The subsidiary claim for unfair competition was deemed moot.
The Court ordered Satine to cease all infringing acts, under a penalty of €300 per infringement, and to destroy all infringing jewelry at its own expense, under a similar daily penalty.
Satine was also ordered to pay:
This ruling illustrates the complementarity between copyright and unregistered design protection, offering creators in the jewelry and fashion industries a flexible and immediate safeguard against imitation.
By reaffirming that originality lies in the individual expression of creative freedom, the Court underscores that even within recurring stylistic trends, distinctive artistic choices remain legally protectable.
In essence, the decision confirms that authentic creativity continues to shine through the ever-changing landscape of fashion — and that French and EU law remain firmly committed to protecting it.
