Legal aspects of the use of a citizen's name as part of a trademark in the practice of French courts

The article analyzes the approaches formed by French judicial practice to the use of a citizen's name as a trademark. The purpose of the study is to highlight the basic principles of interpretation of the good faith of including a citizen's name in a trademark and determining the ratio of the right to a name and the right to a trademark. It is proved that French judicial practice enshrines the principle of the supremacy of the protection of the right to the name of a citizen over the protection of the right to a trademark. It is concluded that when using a citizen's name as part of trademarks, two objects collide: the personal non-property right to the name, inextricably linked with the personality of the citizen, and the exclusive right to the trademark, which establishes the monopoly of the rightholder. Despite the existence of an agreement on the non-use of a name for commercial purposes, it is impossible to prohibit a person from engaging in commercial activity under his own name, except in cases when the use of a name in civil circulation violates the right to a trademark with an earlier priority date or creates a risk of confusion of business entities in the consumer's mind. The right to the name of a citizen has priority over the right of the copyright holder of a trademark that uses an identical name, provided that there is a risk of mixing two business entities. It is proved that the risk of confusion arises if a rare name or the name of a well-known person is used as a trademark.