Cartier was on the point of launching a major advertising campaign called L’Odyssée de Cartier, which would mark the world – a five minute film in which the Cartier saga was told through the eyes of a panther. Directed by Bruno Aveillan, it had been months in the making. I invite you to watch the film.

In short, the film begins with a diamond studded panther in the Cartier boutique of 13 rue de la Paix which transforms into a living panther. She escapes and travels the world. You see her running in the snow along the Bolshoi; meeting the dragon in China; riding an elephant in India … Until finally, she comes back to Paris, place Vendôme. She walks through a richly decorated apartment and meets a beautiful woman. The last shot shows the lavishly bejewelled woman caressing the wild beast. The panther has come home.

That’s nice ….

But now the unthinkable had occurred. An advertisement for the YSL perfume Opium had been aired the night before.

It featured Emily Blunt, walking through a Parisian apartment and meeting …. a panther, guarding the coveted perfume in a setting of red and gold. Fearless, Emily Blunt takes the perfume and caresses the panther before falling back into a couch languorously.

One can absolutely understand the aggravation…

“So what are you going to do about it?” demanded the CEO.

“Well, we will of course look into it, but you must understand … we have no registered rights on a living panther per se, their film seems to have been launched before Cartier’s … this would likely be an uphill battle …”

“Did you not hear me? LA PANTHERE C’EST MOI”

“Gotcha ! We’re onto it!”

And so began our daunting task. We worked tirelessly with our French lawyer, Vincent, and with Cartier’s patrimony department, to unearth the origins of Cartier’s history of the panther. We built a case based on parasitic behaviour and we gave it our all (when all is lost, always try parasitic behaviour).

In truth, we were almost surprised by the decision rendered by the first instance Commercial Court – not only did they render a judgment in our favour acknowledging the parasitic behaviour – they also ordered l’Oréal to pay the hefty sum of 1 million euros in damages.

Naturally, an appeal was lodged – everyone assumed (unfairly) that this decision could not possibly be upheld before the professional judges on appeal….

And so, we came to round two.

The day of the hearing, we met up in the great hall of the Palais de Justice (poetically called La Salle des Pas Perdus – the hall of lost steps). The hearing room of the court of appeal was undergoing works and our lawyer was frantically trying to find where we were scheduled to plead. He finally arrived, looking a little flustered:

“We’ve been moved to the salle des chouettes” (the room of the owls?).

His robe flared out as he performed a perfect pirouette, inviting us to follow his lead towards one of the turrets of the Palais. We began walking up flights of stairs until at last we entered a smallish room with the usual set up – the high bench for the judges, the two pulpits for the plaintiff and defendants’ lawyers and a few (very few) benches for those attending the hearing. A little self-consiously, we and the l’Oréal inhouse lawyers piled up on top of each other waiting for the pleadings to begin.

As I waited, I had ample time to take in the huuuuuuge tapestry which lined the wall above the judges’ bench: it represented a large angry looking owl spreading its wings and clearly intimidating two smaller lady owls who looked a little frazzled… Name of the court room now explained.

The judges were announced: we all rose to our feet. Three lady judges shuffled into their seats, perched high on their bench. Their scruffy greying hair, their moccasins and their spectacles were not the marks of luxury aficionados. If anything, they were more suited to leading a trade union demonstration on the streets of Paris… my heart sank. There was no way they would be sensitive to the story we were about to tell…

But Vincent told the story with all the talent he could muster. His black robe swung, and his long sleeves shimmered as he brought the Court back to the origins of Cartier’s love story with the panther.

Or should we say the love story between Louis Cartier and Jeanne Toussaint? A Parisian cocotte, Jeanne became the muse, artistic director and creator of many of Cartier’s early iconic pieces. Louis had taken to calling her “La Panthère” a sobriquet given to her by a previous lover after a safari trip in Africa. Jeanne took the name and made it her signature – Cartier’s signature – , creating jewellery pieces in the shape of panthers which all would come to associate with the Cartier Maison of high jewellery. (read / read)

In the 80s, Cartier imagined a precious and iconic ad campaign. Exclusively shot in black and white, the photos represented a living panther going shopping on 13 rue de la Paix, looking at the window displays, entering the boutique as a bellboy held the door for her. The panther was no longer just a collection of jewels – the panther was Cartier – she embodied the French luxury Maison.

The living panther has since – regularly and for decades – featured in Cartier’s advertisements – they still do. The Panther is Cartier’s best-selling fragrance and every ad is an ode to the panther – an ode to women.

Contrary to my initial fears, the three judges seemed quickly taken by the story, were curious about Jeanne Toussaint, took notes on how the panther had taken on such an iconic significance.

They were also attentive to the way in which the YSL perfume had adopted all the codes specific to Cartier (red, gold, large jewellery pieces and the panther) to give its perfume an additional aura of luxury – codes which consumers would be sensitive to, consciously or not.

Meanwhile, the owls looked on….

The hearing ended; we all trooped down the stairs. Vincent was exhausted. Coming out of a hearing like this is always a strange feeling. The work has been done, the die cast, there is nothing to do other than wait …. And it will be weeks before you actually get a decision… You dare not expect too much from what you have seen or felt in the Court room, but you do want to congratulate your lawyer for having delivered beautifully …. But who really can tell?

We all say goodbye – Vincent goes back to another matter; we take the train back to Geneva. The CEO wants to know … but he also will have to wait.

The weeks go by.

And then… on 21st October 2015: A call from Vincent. Breathless, almost speechless, he manages to say, “We won!” The judgment rendered by the Court of Appeal was one of our most beautiful wins.

IP lawyers will enjoy looking at the motivations, discussing the impact on free trade, wondering at the strange concept of parasitic behaviour …

But from our perspective – an inhouse perspective – it confirmed only one thing: that “La Panthère, c’est nous … La Panthère, c’est Cartier” ! (read)