INPI annuls RPR trademark filed by Franck Allisio and Marc-Antoine Ponelle

The French National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) has annulled the trademark ‘RPR – Le Rassemblement pour la République’ previously filed by Franck Allisio and Marc-Antoine Ponelle. In its September 2 decision, the INPI cited ‘bad faith filing’ and ordered the two men to pay a joint fine of 1,200 euros.

The legal challenge was initiated by the association Cap sur l’Avenir 13, led by Renaud Muselier. Muselier, the former president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, described the attempt to register the historic political acronym as a ‘shameful usurpation’ of Gaullist heritage.

Muselier emphasized the historical weight of the symbols involved, linking the struggle to his family's legacy in the French Resistance. He criticized the attempt by officials associated with the Rassemblement National to claim a political identity and name that he argues belongs to the collective memory of France.