LACKERTM The English-speaking trademark desk of GOMIS & LACKER AVOCATS, Paris

The English-speaking trademark desk of GOMIS & LACKER, Paris

Your French and EU trademark counsel, on the ground in Paris.

We help U.S. companies and their attorneys clear, file, defend and enforce trademarks in the European Union and France — as the local counsel your team works with directly, in English.

Work with us Practice areas

20+ yearsdaily trademark practice
2 certificationscertified specialist, IP & IT law
3 officesEUIPO · INPI · WIPO practice
INTAmember · Bulletins contributor

What we do for U.S. clients

Clearance

Knock-out and full availability searches in the EU and France, with a risk assessment you can act on.

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Prosecution

EU trademarks (EUIPO), French filings (INPI) and Madrid Protocol designations, drafted to survive European examination.

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Oppositions

Europe's TTAB practice: oppositions, cancellations and revocations before the EUIPO and the INPI — attacking and defending.

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Amicable resolution

Cease-and-desist strategy, coexistence and settlement agreements — resolving conflicts before they become litigation.

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Litigation

Infringement and unfair-competition actions before the French courts, with appeals up to the EU General Court.

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Enforcement

Customs surveillance, watch services, marketplace takedowns and coordinated anti-counterfeiting programs.

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For U.S. law firms: we act as foreign associate — local filings, deadlines, evidence and court appearances handled in Paris, reported back in clear, actionable English. See how we work with counsel →

The life of a U.S. brand in Europe

Every stage has its own rules, deadlines and traps. Each step links to the guide that covers it.

  1. 1ClearanceSearch before you commit
  2. 2FilingEUIPO, INPI or Madrid
  3. 3ExaminationAbsolute-grounds review
  4. 4OppositionThird parties get 2–3 months
  5. 5RegistrationKeep the chain of title clean
  6. 6Genuine useThe 5-year use clock starts
  7. 7RenewalEvery 10 years, indefinitely
  8. 8EnforcementWatch, customs, courts

Selected results

Dropbox, Inc. — INPI, 2022

DROPBOX recognized as a mark with a reputation; opposition to a French "DROPS" application upheld in part, reaching even dissimilar goods (opposition No. OP 21-2978).

Carré Blanc v. Amazon — Paris, 2022

Amazon held liable for trademark infringement, with court-ordered publication of the judgment on amazon.fr itself.

The Feed.com — Paris, 2026

Four conflicting French "Feed" marks canceled on the basis of the client's earlier EU trademark; damages, EU-wide injunction and domain transfer ordered.

All representative matters →

Named with client authorization. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.

Why U.S. teams work with us

Before co-founding GOMIS & LACKER, Julien LACKER practiced for more than ten years within a U.S. law firm in Paris. That decade shaped how the firm works with American clients: direct answers, clear recommendations, deadlines flagged early, budgets discussed before the work.

  • Certified specialist in intellectual property law and in IT law (French national bar council)
  • Daily practice before the EUIPO (in English) and the INPI (in French)
  • Cases argued before the EU General Court in both English and French
  • INTA member — contributor to the INTA Bulletins for France; APRAM member
  • A boutique: the attorney you brief is the attorney who handles the case

Meet Julien LACKER

Julien LACKER, European trademark attorney, GOMIS & LACKER, Paris

How an engagement typically starts

Most matters reach us in one of three ways: an in-house team preparing an EU launch and needing clearance and filings; a U.S. law firm needing a French or EU correspondent for an opposition or litigation; or a company already facing a conflict in Europe — an opposition against its application, an infringement, a cease-and-desist letter.

In all three cases the first step is the same: send us a short description of the situation by email. We respond with a candid assessment under EU and French law, the options, and a fee proposal — see our transparent fee schedule. Given the time difference, email works remarkably well: questions sent from the U.S. in the afternoon are answered by the start of the next U.S. business day.

Contact us

Start with the resources

In-depth procedure guides

Filing, oppositions, litigation, renewals — every French and EU trademark procedure explained for U.S. readers, with real costs and deadlines.

Place names as trademarks

Can a city or place name be a trademark in France or the EU? The rules, the traps, and the Mont Blanc lesson — a specialty of the firm.

Bilingual glossary

The French and EU trademark vocabulary — opposition, déchéance, INPI, EUIPO — mapped to the closest U.S. concepts, term by term.

FAQ

Direct answers to the questions American teams actually ask: costs, timelines, whether your U.S. registration protects you in Europe (it doesn't).

Fee calculator

Official INPI and EUIPO fees for a filing or a renewal, by number of classes — instant figures for your European budget.

The European trademark quiz

Twelve questions to test whether your U.S. trademark instincts travel — each answer links to the guide that covers the rule.

STAR MARK — Life of a Trademark

Ten years of a French/EU trademark in ninety seconds. Every meteor and every game-over is a real rule of trademark law.