Cour de cassation; 2022-03-16; Com., 16 mars 2022, pourvoi n° 20-22.000
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:FR:CCASS:2022:CO00179
Date: 2022-03-16
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: France

82022FR0316(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE summary
JURE summary
This ruling of the Court of Cassation (hereinafter ‘the Supreme Court’) mainly concerned the determination of the place of a harmful event.
The French company Stelia Aerospace (hereinafter ‘the defendant’) sued for unfair competition the Italian company Aviointeriors SPA (hereinafter ‘the plaintiff’) in the tribunal de commerce de La Rochelle (hereinafter ‘the Court of First Instance’). The defendant alleged that the plaintiff produced and marketed an airline seat, which was a copy of an airline seat manufactured by the defendant.
The plaintiff claimed that the Court of First Instance had no jurisdiction, but the Court of First Instance ruled otherwise. The plaintiff lodged an appeal, but the cour d’appel de Poitiers (hereinafter ‘the Court of Appeal’) confirmed that the French courts had jurisdiction.
The plaintiff appealed to the Supreme Court. It cited Article 7(2) of the Brussels I Regulation (recast) (1), which provides that ‘[a] person domiciled in a Member State may be sued in another Member State: […] in matters relating to tort, delict or quasi-delict, in the courts for the place where the harmful event occurred or may occur’. The plaintiff claimed that the location of the harmful event depended upon the marketing of the contentious product. According to the plaintiff, the Court of Appeal wrongly held that the product had been marketed in France, on the grounds that it appeared on a website accessible in France. The plaintiff objected that the product was not marketed in France because it could not be purchased online.
The Supreme Court noted that the plaintiff alleged reputational damage as well as a possible loss of sales and stated that, in matters of unfair competition, such a harmful event is located in the country where the victim has its statutory seat – namely, France.
The plaintiff’s appeal was dismissed.
(1) Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2012 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (recast).