The problems of Modane - a French town and a laxative

It's winter here in Europe, just to state the obvious.

And of course that means snow and enough of it hopefully for French ski resorts and surrounding towns to do a booming business in tourism.

But one small town in the département of Savoie in the French Alps has other thoughts on its mind at the moment as its elected officials decide whether to take a drugs manufacturer to court because of an advertising campaign that potentially damages the image of the townsfolk.

Intrigued? Then read on.

The town is Modane with a population of almost 4,000 and perhaps best known for its international TGV station as it's close to the border with Italy.

The company is Cooper, "a laboratory dedicated to the needs of pharmacists," as its website explains, and which counts amongst its products a certain laxative called...yes you've guessed..."Modane".

The problems began for the mayor of the former - the town that is - when he had his attention drawn to the advertising campaign of the latter - the manufacturer of the drug offering relief for constipation - which started a couple of weeks ago.

It apparently contains a visual which is a little too suggestive in which the drug is heralded as promised relief for bowel difficulties to someone seated just a tad too long on the "throne".

Now before you start cracking all the same sort of jokes that have been entertaining some corners of the French media, this is a serious business as far as the town's mayor Jean-Claude Raffin is concerned and he's currently considering whether to resort to the courts to avoid any "confusion" and "embarrassment" that might ensue.

And he could well have the weight of French justice on his side as the names of villages, towns municipalities and départements are protected by law in France to ensure that there's no "infringement on the earlier rights of a local authority including its name, image or reputation."

According to the regional newspaper Le Dauphiné libéré, an appeals court in Paris interpreted that two years ago in a ruling to mean that "intellectual property cannon be adopted as a trade mark for a product that might contravene those rights."

If you're up to it you can read an explanation of the law here in French.

But as far as Cooper is concerned, the product in no way breaches that ruling, as its president, Pierre-André Martel, explains.

"The drug first came on to the market back in 1962," he says.

"But it was no longer covered by medical insurance for reimbursement from 2006 and so since then we have been advertising it."

One to follow?