You’ve probably heard about McDonald’s lawsuits to protect its trademark from business people whose name happens to be McDonald and would like to use it.
Move up a few notches of dignity and tradition, and you’ll discover that the Swiss-based Edmond de Rothschild Group, handling other people’s money (asset management and private banking), is also about to engage in a trademark lawsuit, just like Ronald would have.
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The company has issued a cease and desist order to French financial adviser Rothschild and Cie for using its family name, the Financial Times reported.
It was one of the first acts of Ariane de Rothschild, who became CEO of Edmond de Rothschild in January.
Close to three years ago, Lord David de Rothschild created the Paris Orléans parent group, uniting the British and Continental branches of the illustrious family.
But the Swiss branch is saying that Paris Orleans SA, the parent of Rothschild and Cie, can’t call itself the “parent of the Rothschild Group, ” because they are the Rothschilds, too, and that’s not their daddy, you very much.
“No entity has the right to lay sole claim to the Rothschild name, ” someone close to the Edmond de Rothschild Group told FT.
Incidentally, Edmond de Rothschild Group, which owns almost 8 per cent of Paris-Orléans.
The FT speculates that the real conflict here is deeper and older, reflecting the Rothschilds’ fears about the family’s future. In late 2013, Paris-Orléans took a $24 million writedown out of its 8 percent stake in Edmond de Rothschild Group — and the stuff hit the fan. Benjamin de Rothschild, chairman of Edmond de Rothschild Group, whose family owns the entire thing, declared he was afraid that Rothschild & Cie could be sold one day, and the buyer could walk away with the family name.
