The nuclear sponsor of French America's Cup challenger Le Defi Areva has failed in a court bid to sue Greenpeace groups in France and New Zealand.
Areva, formed from France's nuclear fuel and power plant industries, complained that the two Greenpeace groups and a French internet company had degraded its trademark.
Greenpeace
had depicted a skull and nuclear symbol behind Areva's stylised A on website stories about the sponsor.
Areva argued that the logo discredited and devalued its trademark and sought almost $200,000 in damages.
But a French judge rejected the case, said Greenpeace New Zealand spokeswoman Bunny McDiarmid.
Greenpeace and Areva have already clashed over its sponsorship of the America's Cup challenge. A rubber inflatable carrying protesters crashed into the side of Defi's new boat when it was launched in France this year, damaging the hull.
Greenpeace has objected to Areva's involvement in the cup, saying the company is owned in part by the French Government and indirectly by the Government-controlled Atomic Energy Commission, which was responsible for France's nuclear weapons programme.
Greenpeace ship the Rainbow Warrior was bombed in Auckland by French secret agents 17 years ago, killing a photographer, as it was about to leave to protest against French nuclear testing in the Pacific.
nzherald.co.nz/americascup
