Glossary
French: principe de spécialité
The principle of specialty (principe de spécialité) holds that a trademark is protected only within a limited field of activity: the field delimited by the list of goods and services covered by the mark. Identical marks filed for different products must coexist.
A mark is protected against the use of an identical or similar name for identical or similar goods and services. When a third party uses the mark for goods and services that are neither identical nor similar, the owner cannot stop that use: its monopoly extends only that far. This is why DELTA can be an airline, a faucet maker and an insurance brand at once — a phenomenon equally familiar in the US, where the “related goods” doctrine performs the same limiting function within the likelihood-of-confusion analysis.
The major exception is the reputed mark (marque de renommée): under certain conditions, a mark with a reputation can be protected even for goods and services that are not similar. This is the French/EU functional counterpart of US dilution protection for famous marks (blurring and tarnishment), though the legal tests differ. For all other marks, specialty applies with full force.
The principle drives both filing and clearance strategy: the goods and services claimed define the scope of the monopoly, and assessing a conflict always starts with the similarity of goods and services — see trademark clearance search.
See also: likelihood of confusion, trademark class.