Chapter I: National Design Litigation

The seizure, whether descriptive or real, provided for in Article L. 521-4 shall be ordered by the president of the judicial court with jurisdiction to hear the case on the merits. The president may authorise the bailiff to make any useful observations with a view to establishing the origin, consistency and extent of the infringement. In order to ensure the protection of business secrecy, the president may ex officio order…

Where the judge has made the seizure subject to the provision of guarantees by the claimant, these must be provided before the seizure is carried out. On pain of nullity and damages against the bailiff, the latter must, before proceeding with the seizure, give copies to the holders of the objects seized or described of the order and, where applicable, of the deed recording the provision of guarantees. A copy…

The period provided for in the last paragraph of Article L. 521-4 and given to the claimant to appeal on the merits is twenty working days or thirty-one calendar days, whichever is longer, from the day on which the seizure or description took place. .

The president of the judicial court may order, in the light of the seizure report, any measure to complete the proof of the alleged acts of infringement.