The name of those knives we see in practically every local restaurant is Laguiole; the little bee symbol to remind us that that originally the blades were those of Aveyron countrymen, mainly shepherds. But for some time there has been a row between the cutlers of the eponymous village and a businessman who copyrighted the name for pretty much everything.
A judge ruled that the name described a style of knife, so that any knife made anywhere could be called Laguiole. But a recent government bill designated over 200 "indications geographique" (IG) which allowed products from a defined area to put a logo of origin on their local products. So Laguiole knives made in the village can now say "Genuine Laguiole" and nowhere else can say that (except that the cutlers in Thiers (Puy de Dome) want to include the IG on their knives). So the argument continues. The Laguiole knife-makers want the IG to be limited to 20 kms around their village. Seems reasonable.
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