A geographical indication (GI) “Laguiole knife” was granted on Friday by the National Institute of Intellectual Property (Inpi) to the famous knife adorned with a bee, after decades of battles between knife makers in the Massif Central, and against counterfeit manufacturers. .
An artisanal or industrial geographical indication (GI) is an official sign of quality and origin that assures consumers of the authenticity of the products they buy, allowing manufacturers to improve their products and protect their knowledge against counterfeiting.
The Laguiole knives – folding, sommelier and table knives – that will have the right to claim the label must have been manufactured in 94 municipalities in six departments: Aveyron, where the small town of Laguiole is located, after which the knife is named, Lozère, Cantal , Loire, Allier and Puy-de-Dôme, where the knife-making city of Thiers is located, which had been in charge of manufacturing these knives since the 19th century, indicates the INPI in a press release.
After the rejection in April of an equivalent request emanating only from knife makers from Aubrac and North Aveyron, the request submitted by Thiers artisans in the name of “know-how established for more than 150 years in the Massif Central” was successful. .
Until the Middle Ages
Appeared in the mid-19th century in Laguiole, this knife with its characteristic shape had a catchment area linked to the agricultural activity of the region, famous for its meat and cheese. But its manufacture from the beginning was assured in Laguiole and in the Thiernois basin.
Since the 1980s, the local production of knives in Laguiole had resumed after having disappeared for almost a century, around a group of young knife makers who wanted to keep the prestige of the Laguiole name, sold all over the world. A legal battle has opposed the two production sites in the Massif Central since the early 1990s.
INPI’s research file goes back to the Middle Ages to prove Thiers’ historical know-how, traced back to the 14th century, and especially the subcontracting relationships established between Laguiole and Thiers since 1868.
Laguiole in the Val-de-Marne
Added to the battle of the bell tower was a gigantic legal battle waged by the inhabitants of Laguiole against a businessman from Val-de-Marne who had registered the “Laguiole” trademark in 1993, by having knives and penknives manufactured under license. furniture, toys, etc.) in countries with low labor costs.
In September 2012, the inhabitants and artisans of Laguiole even symbolically changed the name of their village to denounce the “privatization” of their name by this businessman, Gilbert Szajner.
Thirteen other artisanal or industrial geographical indications have been approved by the INPI since the entry into force of the system in 2015: the “seat of Liffol”, the “granite of Brittany”, the “porcelain of Limoges”, the “stone of Burgundy” , “Perpignan garnet”, “Aubusson carpet”, “Aubusson tapestry”, “Charente-Périgord charentaise”, “Rhône-Alpes marble stones”, “Pais de Grasse absolute”, “Basque linen”, ” Arudy stone”, and “Soufflenheim/Betschdorf pottery from Alsace”.
Source: BFM TV
