'Counterfeit' Bioderma cosmetics seized in France

Customs officers in France have raided facilities filled with counterfeit Bioderma cosmetics.

A raid on production and warehouse facilities in the Seine-et-Marne area uncovered 45,000 fake products, including cleansing lotions, soaps and skin creams, bearing trademarks held by specialty dermatology company Bioderma. and an equivalent number of packaging items including tubes, bottles and pots. Another 17,000 counterfeits were found at a storage site in Calvados, Normandy.

An article in Le Parisien newspaper notes that rather than being a straight case of illicit counterfeiting, the products stem from an intellectual property over the rights to the 'Bioderma' trade name, and the cosmetics were not harmful to users.

Groupe Naos owns rights to the disputed trademarks following a long-running legal dispute with Cabinet Continental which came to a head last September after more than two decades of litigation when an appeal by Cabinet Continental was rejected.

The products seized were destined for export sale, according to France's National Directorate of Customs Intelligence and Investigation (DNRED).