Section 2: Processing applications

The Minister responsible for defence is authorised to take cognisance of patent applications at the Institut national de la propriété industrielle on a confidential basis.

Inventions which are the subject of patent applications may not be disclosed and freely worked until authorisation has been granted to do so. During this period, patent applications may not be made public, no true copy of the patent application may be granted without authorisation, and the procedures provided for in the articles L. 612-14, L. 612-15 and 1° of article L. 612-21 may not be committed. Subject to Article…

Before the end of the period provided for in the second paragraph of article L. 612-9, the bans imposed in the first paragraph of the said article may be extended, at the request of the Minister responsible for defence, for a renewable period of one year. Prolonged bans may be lifted at any time, subject to the same condition. The extension of prohibitions imposed under this article shall give rise…

The Director of the Institut national de la propriété industrielle shall examine the compliance of patent applications with the legislative and regulatory provisions mentioned in Article L. 612-12.

Any patent application shall be rejected, in whole or in part: 1° Which does not satisfy the conditions referred to in Article L. 612-1 ; 2° Which has not been divided in accordance with Article L. 612-4 ; 3° Which relates to a divisional application whose subject matter extends beyond the content of the description of the initial application; 4° Which relates to an invention that is not patentable under…

From the day on which the application is filed and until the day on which the documentary search prior to the report provided for in Article L. 612-14 has been commenced, the applicant may file new claims. The option of filing new claims is open to the applicant for a utility certificate until the day on which that title is granted. From the day of publication of the patent application…

Subject to the provisions of the first paragraph of Article L. 612-15 and if it has received a filing date, the patent application shall give rise to the drawing up of a search report on the elements of the state of the art which may be taken into consideration to assess, within the meaning of the articles L. 611-11 and L. 611-14, the patentability of the invention. This report is…

The applicant may convert his patent application into a utility certificate application under conditions laid down by regulation. The applicant may convert his utility certificate application into a patent application, within a period and according to a procedure specified by regulation.

An applicant who has not complied with a time limit vis-à-vis the National Institute of Industrial Property may lodge an appeal with a view to having his rights restored if he proves a legitimate excuse and if failure to comply with the time limit has as a direct consequence the rejection of the patent application or a request, the lapse of the patent application or patent or the loss of…

An applicant who has not complied with the priority period instituted by Article 4 of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property in respect of the National Institute of Industrial Property may lodge an appeal with a view to having his right restored if he proves a legitimate excuse. The patent application, filed more than one year after the earlier application whose priority it claims, must be filed…