Chanel Wins Court Battle Over Logo

French fashion house Chanel has won a court battle against an upmarket London sex shop over the house's famous COCO trademark. The Paris-based company objected to sex shop Coco de Mer, owned by Samantha Roddick, 33 - the daughter of Body Shop founder Anita - registering the brand name COCO DE MER. Mr Justice Patten said: "Coco de mer is the name of species of palm tree which grows only on one or two of the islands in the Seychelles. The fruit of the tree is a large nut with two lobes, which is said to resemble a female bottom and genitalia."

He added: "Ms Roddick says that she recognised the spiritual and sexual significance of the coco de mer nut, which is seen as a potent and particularly feminine symbol of fertility.Ms Roddick, 33, set up Coco de Mer in London's Monmouth Street. She told Justice Patten that her shop sold a wide range of erotica and her aim is to "sell items of high quality in an attractive environment that is not smutty or alienating"

Miss Roddick claimed there was no risk of association between the brands, because the branding and marketing of Coco de Mer used the full name and was based on the name of the fruit. However, Chanel argued that only a tiny number of people who had spent holidays in the Seychelles would know that it was a native palm tree and even fewer would know of its erotic significance.