CSP Limoges registers « Forever the first » and beats OM to the punch
The Limoges basketball club has officially registered the trademark « Forever the first » in France, the United Kingdom and across Europe, leveraging its European Cup victory on April 15, 1993 — 41 days before Olympique de Marseille's Champions League triumph.
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CSP Limoges has registered the trademark « CSP Limoges, forever the first » with the competent authorities in France, the United Kingdom and across Europe, officially depriving Olympique de Marseille of ownership of a slogan that its supporters have been chanting for thirty years.
The basketball club’s historical argument is solid: on April 15, 1993, CSP Limoges defeated Benetton Treviso (59-55) in the European Cup final, becoming the first French sports club to win such a continental trophy. It was only 41 days later, on May 26, 1993, that OM won the Champions League against AC Milan in Munich (1-0), immediately appropriating the rallying cry « Forever the first ».
« We are the first in our discipline, that’s for sure, » declared Thomas Jacquemier, general manager of CSP Limoges. The executive was keen to reassure Marseille supporters: « We have no intention of preventing supporters of any discipline from chanting this slogan. That applies to OM. We are simply taking a protective approach as part of building an asset portfolio. »
Club president Lionel Péluhet confirmed the scope of the registration and its strategic importance for the club’s identity: « ‘Forever the first’, and tomorrow the logo will be ‘CSP Limoges, forever the first’, it’s an important element of the project. »
This move is part of a reconstruction dynamic for CSP Limoges, which finished thirteenth in Betclic Élite last season. The Nouvelle-Aquitaine club is displaying European ambitions and is currently studying the construction of a venue that could accommodate 8,000 spectators.
