The Institut national de la propriété industrielle is a public establishment with legal personality and financial autonomy, reporting to the Minister responsible for industrial property.
The mission of this establishment is:
1° To centralise and disseminate all information necessary for the protection of innovations and for the registration of companies, as well as to undertake any awareness-raising and training activities in these areas;
2° To apply the laws and regulations relating to industrial property; to this end, the Institute provides, in particular, for the receipt of applications for industrial property titles or ancillary industrial property titles, for their examination and grant or registration and for the supervision of their maintenance; it hears applications for invalidity and revocation of trademarks mentioned in 1° and 2° of I of Article L. 716-5, as well as oppositions lodged against patents for invention; it ensures the dissemination of technical, commercial and financial information contained in industrial property titles; it rules on applications for approval or modification of the specifications of geographical indications defined in article L. 721-2;
2-1° To apply the provisions of the Commercial Code relating to the keeping of the national register of companies provided for in article L. 123-36 of this code, the prerogatives associated with it and the free dissemination of information to the public;
3° Taking any initiative with a view to the ongoing adaptation of national and international law to the needs of innovators and businesses; in this respect, it proposes to the Minister responsible for industrial property any reform it considers useful in these matters; it participates in the drafting of international agreements and in representing France in the competent international organisations.