The sweet bread roll, which has a piece of chocolate inside, was created by a member of the Pasquier family in 1986, and the firm claimed the rights to the name - a common word in English but not in France.
Chocolate treat
The founder came up with the idea after his children ate Pains au Lait as a snack when they were playing sports outside. To make it more exciting, they would put a chocolate bar inside the treat. This gave their father the idea to add a chocolate filling to the brioche.
Since then, a number of French start-up companies have started using the word ‘pitch’ in their branding.
As a result, Brioche Pasquier has allegedly sent legal notices to the organizer of an event called Pitch in the Plane, another event called Pitch Parties, and a training organization called L’Ecole du Pitch (The Pitch School).
According to Le Figaro newspaper, the bakery firm has sent letters to at least six French start-ups ordering them to remove the word “pitch” from their title because it is ‘an infringement’ of its registered trademark.
”Training for start-ups doesn’t overshadow a brioche,” Gael Duval, of Pitch in the Plane, reportedly told Le Figaro.
IP rights
BakeryandSnacks contacted Brioche Pasquier for comment and is awaiting response but in a statement on its Twitter page the firm, said "it supports entrepreneurship and will continue to support it with respect for the rights of all."
It claims: "We do not ban the use of the English expression 'pitch' in everyday language but we will protect our rights regarding our brand name Pitch, which has been registered with the INPI (The National Industrial Property Institute)... the national intellectual property office of France, in charge of patents, trademarks and industrial design rights."
