” It’s incredible. I no longer understand anything, ”sighs Honoré Durand, president of the Syndicate of Aveyron manufacturers of the Laguiole knife. While their own application for a geographical indication (GI) “Laguiole knife” was rejected last April, the INPI has just approved the GI “Laguiole knife” from manufacturers from Thiers. A decision that makes him all the more angry since, at the beginning of August, the union had appealed: “We are still awaiting the verdict of the Aix-en-Provence court, but the INPI does not did not wait! However, there cannot be two geographical indications with similar names and common geographical areas,” he complains.
“The INPI does not even respect the law which protects the use of the name Laguiole”, continues the one who is also vice-president of the French association of protected industrial and artisanal indications (Ifigia). Honoré Durand is also worried about the future of GIs and their relevance if the specifications are not stricter.
“I think there is a kind of job blackmail”
The INPI indicates that the geographical area chosen covers 94 municipalities in 6 departments and involves 38 companies, ie 400 employees, for a turnover of 43 million euros. “I think there is a kind of job blackmail because they outnumber us. But that’s normal, they make all the regional knives of France, ”underlines Honoré Durand, who for his part represents around 202 employees.
On the side of the mayor of Laguiole, we are precisely worried about the consequences. “This could jeopardize the activity of our cutlers”, fears Vincent Alazard. If he ensures to remain calm and want to accompany the union, he laughs yellow. “A businessman wanted to appropriate the name of the village, and now it is an association of Thiers which appropriates the Laguiole knife. What world do we live in? »