Section 1: European patents

The European patent application may be filed at the headquarters of the National Institute of Industrial Property or sent there by post or by any means of teletransmission under the conditions defined by decision of its Director General. The filing date shall be the date of receipt of the application at the headquarters of the Institute. .

With the exception of Article R. 612-31, the provisions of Articles R. 612-26 to R. 612-32 shall apply to European patent applications filed with the Institut national de la propriété industrielle, taking into account the provisions of articles L. 614-4 à L. 614-5.

The conversion of the European patent application into a French patent application takes place as soon as the Institut national de la propriété industrielle receives the request. It is assigned a national registration number. Subject to the provisions of articles L. 614-4 and L. 614-5, notice of the conversion shall be published in the Bulletin officiel de la propriété industrielle within one month of receipt of the request. The mention…

If, within the period provided for in the third paragraph of Article R. 614-5, one of the conditions required by the said paragraph is not met, the patent application shall be rejected by reasoned decision of the Director General of the National Institute of Industrial Property and notified to the applicant. Any fees paid shall be refunded.

The provisions of articles R. 614-5 and R. 614-6 are applicable to utility certificate applications.

The translation of the claims of the European patent application referred to in Article L. 614-9 shall be drawn up by the applicant. The text is submitted to the National Institute of Industrial Property by the applicant, together with a request for publication and proof of payment of the fee due. The request for publication is declared inadmissible if it is not accompanied by proof of payment of the fee….

The provisions of Article R. 614-11 are applicable to the production of the revised translation of the claims provided for in the second paragraph of Article L. 614-10.

The following shall be entered ex officio in the National Patent Register: 1° The final decision mentioned in Article R. 614-6; 2° The submission of the translation and that of the revised translation of the claims of the patent application or of the claims of the European patent mentioned in Articles R. 614-11 and R. 614-12.

The following shall be entered in the National Patent Register, free of charge, at the request of the clerk of the court or at the request of one of the parties to the proceedings, judicial decisions which have become res judicata taken pursuant to articles L. 614-12 and L. 615-17.

The annual fees provided for in Article L. 612-19 for the patent application resulting from the conversion of a European patent application carried out under the conditions provided for by the articles R. 614-5 to R. 614-7 are only due for the years following the year in which the European patent application is deemed to be converted. The annual fee to be paid shall be counted from the filing date…