A vast operation of the French gendarmerie was conducted on Tuesday, November 4 in 27 points of sale of the perfumery chain Equivalenza. His concept of selling perfumes through correspondence boards is a form of counterfeiting, according to the FEBEA (Fédération des entreprises de la beauté), which filed a complaint last July.
The Spanish chain Equivalenza arrived in France at the beginning of 2014, to export its concept of selling perfumes by correspondence boards or sale by equivalence.
This practice consists of selling, at a discounted price, a perfume that bears any name, even a simple number, by presenting it as the equivalent of a known brand perfume. The table of concordances generally comprises two columns: one of them bears a number or a fancy denominative mark, the other column presents, opposite, the known marks whose product, thus marketed, is supposed to restore the fragrance.
According to Emmanuelle Gourbin, FEBEA's legal director,"this practice is counterfeiting".
And Patrick O'Quin, President of the Federation, declares that"it is essential to fight against all types of counterfeiting to preserve our heritage and our know-how, and thus to put an end to these practices which destroy jobs in France and damage the reputation of our companies".
Faced with the rapid development of the chain (which planned to open 150 shops in France by the end of 2015), the FEBEA lodged a complaint with the national gendarmerie, which, after opening a judicial investigation at the beginning of October, carried out a vast operation against …
