- An Italian MEP was moved by the tourist name “Tuscan Occitane” adopted in the west of the Tarn and speaks of usurpation.
- In the very small French territory concerned, people are surprised at the controversy and ironically we list all the exotic “Venices” or “Rivieras” that have never posed a problem.
- The “Toscane Occitane” trademark was registered in good and due form, without giving rise to any appeal.
It is true that with its fortified bastides – Cordes-sur-Ciel, Castelnau-de-Montmiral or Puycelsi –, its Gaillacois vineyards, its hilly landscape, the north-west of Tarn looks like Tuscany. By dint of thinking it, of hearing it also said by passing tourists, local elected officials have ended up making it a tourist argument. The grouping of two tourist offices – that of the Bastides and Vignoble Gaillacois and that of the country that of the Pays Cordais and Pays de Vaour – took the “umbrella name” ofOccitan Tuscany Tourist Officewhich boasts of “experiences” or “unforgettable” walks… in Occitane Tuscany, and everything is declined accordingly.
“There is only one Tuscany”
The Tarn seduction campaign ended up moving on the other side of the Alps. Even to annoy Nicola Danti (Renew), an Italian deputy who spoke about it on June 10 before the European Parliament. “There is only one Tuscany” he proclaims, denouncing “an operation which clearly aims to exploit the tourist attraction of the famous region of Tuscany in Italy, by misusing a brand established company known throughout the world”.
“In Brussels, we fight every day against actions of this kind which are carried out in the rest of the world and which harm our economy. I find it paradoxical that such campaigns can also be designed in EU countries”, adds Nicola Danti, whose susceptibility does not include Bruges, “the Venice of the North”, nor the Gers often referred to as “the little Tuscany French”.
And the “Francia Corta” in Lombardy then?
The targeted Tarnais also have a string of arguments to return. “Obviously we never imagined and absolutely cannot imagine overshadowing Greater Tuscany and its nearly four million inhabitants. It’s just a spontaneous analogy to a prestigious big sister, “says a” little clarification “Occitane Tuscany, which has 80,000 inhabitants and knows how to handle irony. “The Côte d’Azur does not object to the designation of “Danish Riviera” north of Copenhagen or the “Riviera of the Alps” located obviously elsewhere than in the Mediterranean. The Alpes Mancelles, in the Sarthe, are obviously not in the Alps either. The city of Cape Town in South Africa sells itself like African California”, list the Tarnais in an “endless list”. Not to mention “a wine region in Italy, in Lombardy, which calls itself the “Francia Corta”.
As for a possible legal recourse, mentioned in Italy, Occitane Tuscany considers itself bordered. The trademark was registered with the Inpi “without any difficulty on January 7, 2022”. No one reported within the legal appeal period of two months. “And it is not surprising (…). In no way could there be confusion, none of our visitors think they are in Italy, ”the Tarnais still defend themselves. Unless you have forced too much on the Chianti.