Since January 1, Fret SNCF has been replaced by two separate companies: Hexafret and Technis. Except that this last name is already registered by a Swiss company which, moreover, provides solutions to the company.
Wiktor Bourée, CEO of Technis, is losing patience. His company announces that it is taking action against the SNCF Group for “corporate name interference”.
Reminder of the facts. Last November, the SNCF Group announcement that following the discontinuity plan imposed by the European Commission, Fret SNCF will disappear on January 1st to be reborn in the form of two separate companies: Hexafret for freight transport and Technis for locomotive maintenance.
Small problem, not only does this brand already exist and is filed internationally in 2016 and in France since August 2022, but in addition, this Technis provides solutions… to the SNCF.
Technis is a company founded eight years ago in Switzerland, its French subsidiary is created in 2018. It offers technological solutions for the digitalization of physical spaces and flow management, particularly for the Paris Olympic Games last summer.
For the SNCF, it provides occupancy rate solutions to better size its offices or for managing the flow of people in its stations.
“Above the law”
Obviously, the company quickly seeks to exchange with the railway company. “The SNCF responds to us quite quickly, we have discussions, but after a month, there is no beginning of a solution, nothing acceptable or concrete even though they know well that there is has a problem and they know us!”, explains the CEO to BFM Business.
-Faced with this inertia, Technis therefore decided to take out the legal weapon after having put SNCF on notice.
“Faced with this lack of serious consideration of its legitimate concerns (and this desire to appropriate a meaningful commercial name), Technis has decided to bring this matter before the courts in France and Switzerland,” we can read in a press release.
“It is still distressing to note that certain groups believe themselves to be above the law and think that by prolonging, they will obtain everything they want. In this case, I have been working for more than eight years I’ve been working hard with a highly motivated team to make Technis a name that counts, so there’s no way I’m going to give up and it’s unacceptable for the SNCF Group to appropriate what belongs to us. Technis versus Goliath is starting now. “, noted Wiktor Bourée.
Prejudice
Because for him, the damage is significant. “The damage is already being felt: our ranking on Google is declining and when we want to communicate there are no more repercussions. We spend our time justifying ourselves to our customers, we are associated with negative noise linked to Fret SNCF news A Swiss MP even questioned me on this issue. The impact is already there and it will be worse in the coming months” when the SNCF Technis is operational, he regrets.
“At this stage, discussions are underway between our council and that of this company and we unfortunately cannot say more,” a spokesperson for Fret SNCF told us last December.
Olivier Chicheportiche Journalist BFM Business
