Chapter III: Patent rights

The proprietor of a patent infringing an earlier patent may not work his patent without the authorisation of the proprietor of the earlier patent; the said proprietor may not work the later patent without the authorisation of the proprietor of the later patent. Where the owner of a patent cannot exploit it without infringing an earlier patent owned by a third party, the court may grant him a licence to…

Where a breeder cannot obtain or exploit a plant variety right without infringing an earlier patent, he may request the grant of a licence under that patent insofar as such licence is necessary for the exploitation of the plant variety to be protected and provided that the variety constitutes, in respect of the invention claimed in that patent, a significant technical advance and is of considerable economic interest. Where such…

If the interests of public health so require and in the absence of an amicable agreement with the patent proprietor, the Minister responsible for industrial property may, at the request of the Minister responsible for public health, subject by order to the ex officio licence system, under the conditions provided for in Article L. 613-17, any patent granted for: a) A medicinal product, a medical device, an in vitro diagnostic…

From the day of publication of the order subjecting the patent to the ex officio licence system, any qualified person may apply to the Minister responsible for industrial property for the grant of a licence to exploit the patent. Such licence shall be granted by order of the said Minister on specified conditions, in particular as to its duration and scope, but excluding the royalties to which it gives rise….

Applications for a compulsory licence under Regulation (EC) No 816/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2006 on compulsory licensing of patents relating to the manufacture of pharmaceutical products for export to countries with public health problems shall be submitted to the administrative authority. The licence is issued in accordance with the conditions set out in Article 10 of this regulation. The order granting the…

Any infringement of the prohibition laid down in Article 13 of Regulation (EC) No 816/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2006, referred to above, and in Article 2 of Council Regulation (EC) No 953/2003 of 26 May 2003 to avoid trade diversion into the European Union of certain essential medicinal products constitutes an infringement punishable by the penalties laid down in Article L. 615-14…

The Minister responsible for industrial property may give formal notice to the owners of invention patents other than those referred to in Article L. 613-16 to begin working them in such a way as to meet the needs of the national economy. If the formal notice has not been acted upon within a period of one year and if the absence of exploitation or the inadequacy in quality or quantity…

The State may obtain ex officio, at any time, for the needs of national defence, a licence for the exploitation of an invention, which is the subject of a patent application or patent, whether such exploitation is made by itself or on its behalf. The ex officio licence is granted at the request of the minister responsible for defence by order of the minister responsible for industrial property. This order…

If the subject matter of the patent is an invention in the field of semiconductor technology, a compulsory or ex officio licence may only be granted for use for public non-commercial purposes or to remedy a practice that has been declared anti-competitive following judicial or administrative proceedings.

The State may, at any time, by decree, expropriate, in whole or in part, for the needs of national defence, inventions, which are the subject of patent applications or patents. Failing amicable agreement, the expropriation compensation shall be fixed by the judicial court. At all levels of jurisdiction, hearings take place in chambers.