Paragraph 1: Filing of international applications

International applications for the protection of inventions made by natural or legal persons having their domicile or registered office in France must be filed with the National Institute of Industrial Property when the priority of an earlier filing in France is not claimed. The Institut national de la propriété industrielle then acts as a receiving office within the meaning of Articles 2-XV and 10 of the Washington Treaty.

The Minister responsible for defence is authorised to take cognisance at the Institut national de la propriété industrielle, on a confidential basis, of international applications for the protection of inventions filed with that institute.

Inventions that are the subject of international applications filed with the National Institute of Industrial Property may not be disclosed and freely exploited until authorisation has been granted to do so. During this period, the applications may not be made public; no true copies of the application may be issued unless authorised. The authorisations provided for in the first and second paragraphs of this article are granted by the Minister…

Before the end of either of the periods mentioned in the last paragraph of article L. 614-20, the prohibitions provided for in the said article may be extended, at the request of the Minister of Defence, for a renewable period of one year. In this case, the request is not forwarded to the International Bureau set up by the Washington Treaty. Extended bans may be lifted at any time. In…

The provisions of Articles L. 614-19, L. 614-20 and L. 614-21 shall not apply where, since the applicant is not domiciled or headquartered in France, the Institut national de la propriété industrielle acts as receiving office in the place of the national office of another State party to the Washington Treaty, or where it has been designated as receiving office by the assembly of the union instituted by the said…

A decree in Council of State shall determine the manner in which the provisions of this Section shall be applied, in particular as regards the conditions of receipt of the international application, the language in which the application must be filed, the establishment of a fee for services rendered known as the transmittal fee collected for the benefit of the National Institute of Industrial Property and the representation of applicants…