This assertion is not only groundless and absurd, it’s entirely dishonest. This website presents the 20+ years of constant partnership between France.com and various entities and branches of the French government who were not only aware of France.com’s existence, but consistently encouraged and supported its initiatives and activities.
And so it is that after 25+ years of collaboration with France.com, Inc, the French Government and Atout France wanting to get the prized domain name France.com without paying for it, devised a way to abuse its power and deprive an American company of an American-based asset, protected by US Trademark law.
Sounds incredible?
It is, but read on:
Registration of the domain name France.com
February 20, 1994My name is Jean-Noel Frydman. I was born in France and, in the early 80’s, moved to New York to study film at New York…
Read moreConsulate General of France in Los Angeles
March 4, 1994
Once our server was up and running and accessible through the address France.com , we started looking for media companies, government entities, startups and members…
Read moreLaunch of France.com’s website
June 18, 1995
Our very first website was released on June 18, 1995, and it included information about French culture, the Francophile community and a small section on…
Read moreFrance’s Ministry of Culture enthusiastically endorses Les Webs d’Or
December 10, 1995
Our early initiatives also brought support from other branches of the French government. Such was the case for Les Webs d’Or. By December of 1995…
Read moreFrench Embassy in Washington DC
February 5, 1996
France Online became the natural outside contractor when, in 1995 the French Embassy in Washington needed to build its first online presence. We had the…
Read moreFrance.com builds first website devoted to travel to France
November 10, 1997
In 1997, due to the overwhelming request from our web readers, France.com focused on providing information on travel to France, becoming the first website promoting…
Read moreFrench Affairs
October 15, 2002Since 2002, Atout France has organized yearly events in the United States. The 2-day events, called French Affairs, take place in different American cities and…
Read moreAtout France invites and promotes France.com during Rendez-Vous en France annual trade show
March 21, 2009
France.com wins Atout France’s award for ‘Best Website’
October 25, 2009Atout France invites and promotes France.com during Rendez-Vous en France annual trade show
March 30, 2010
France.com wins Atout France’s award for the tour operator with ‘The Most Diverse and Extensive Offer’
October 25, 2010France.com wins Atout France’s award for ‘Tour Operator of the Year’
October 25, 2010Atout France invites and promotes France.com during Rendez-Vous en France annual trade show
March 29, 2011
Atout France registers US trademark, asserting ‘no claim to the exclusive right to use “France” in the US
September 20, 2011
Atout France invites and promotes France.com during Rendez-Vous en France annual trade show
March 27, 2012
France.com wins Atout France’s award for the tour operator with ‘The Most Diverse and Extensive Offer’
October 22, 2012Atout France invites and promotes France.com during Rendez-Vous en France annual trade show
March 26, 2013
France’s Tourism Minister to France National Assembly: “Government has no right to domain name France.com because of the first come first serve rule of .com registrations
October 20, 2014
“URL France.com is the property of a US travel agency since 1994” states committee headed by Laurent Fabius, Minister of Foreign Affairs
December 17, 2014
Invitation to meet Laurent Fabius, Minister of Foreign Affairs
April 1, 2015
As part of the US Atout France delegation, I was asked to participate in a breakfast in honor of Laurent Fabius, French Minister of Foreign…
Read moreFrance’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Atout France jointly initiate lawsuit against France.com in French court, demanding that France.com’s trademarks and domain name be transferred to them without any compensation
April 15, 2015
“It’s imperative that we profit from using the URL France.com” declares Laurent Fabius while also stating that the URL is owned by a Florida company…
June 9, 2015
In June of 2015, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs convenes a committee on Tourism and it the latter comes up with 40 recommendations to grow…
Read more“Your presence and input have been very valuable to this organization… Your knowledge of the markets as well as your involvement have been very much Appreciated.”
Atout France sends letter thanking me for having served on their International Advisory Board
August 21, 2015French lower court (Paris’ TGI) issues Judgement
November 27, 2015
On November 2015, Paris,Tribunal de Grande Instance rendered its decision regarding the domain name France.com and related European and French trademarks: And here is…
Read moreParis Court of Appeals Judgement
September 22, 2017
Handed on September 22, 2017 was this decision from the Court of Appeals. It ordered France.com, Inc. – and France.com, Inc. only – to transfer…
Read moreFrance’s Lawyers write to Web.com to ask for the transfer of the domain, in contradiction to the French Appeals court order
November 8, 2017
France.com is served the French Appeals Court Judgment in the United States
January 9, 2018France.com’s domain name is transferred to France’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs without any advance notice nor compensation.
January 11, 2018On March 12,2018 the domain name France.com was transferred by Web.com to the France’s ministry of Foreign Affairs and Europe. After almost a quarter-century France.com…
Read moreFrance cuts off all traffic to France.com’s website and email service without any notice and redirects France.com natural traffic to France.fr
March 12, 2018France.com, Inc. files lawsuit against the French Republic, its ministry of Foreign Affairs, its minister of Foreign Affairs and Atout France in the Eastern District Court of Virginia
April 23, 2018
It is INTA’s position that, states do not possess exclusive rights to geographic terms and that the rights of trademark owners as established under the international legal framework – including the above binding international treaties – should be recognized and protected. In our opinion, no interpretation of the public interest provides justification for disregarding such international legal framework as it applies to trademarks. Such an approach would be inconsistent with the legal obligations of the 177 contracting parties of the Paris Convention under Article 6 and, therefore, should not be upheld by the national courts of those countries.
Eastern District of Virginia Federal court denies France’s motion to dismiss: France can no longer dodge US case about Domain name
December 6, 2019
You can also dig deeper, by having a look at Financial documents, miscellaneous correspondence and partnership offers made to France.com.