Chapter II: Acquisition of Trade Mark Rights

Ownership of the trademark is acquired by registration. The mark may be acquired in joint ownership. The registration shall have effect from the date of filing of the application for a period of ten years indefinitely renewable.

The application for registration shall be filed and published in the form and under the conditions laid down by this Title and specified by decree in Council of State. In order to benefit from a filing date, it must include in particular a representation of the mark, a list of the goods or services for which registration is sought, the identification of the applicant and be accompanied by proof of…

Any local authority or public establishment for inter-communal cooperation may ask the National Institute of Industrial Property to be alerted in the event of the filing of an application to register a trademark containing its name, under conditions set by decree. The regional councils, the territorial collectivity of Corsica and the general councils may ask the Institut national de la propriété industrielle to be alerted in the event of the…

Within two months of the publication of the application for registration, any person may submit written observations to the Director General of the National Institute of Industrial Property specifying the grounds on which the application for registration should be rejected pursuant to 2° and 3° of Article L. 712-7. Within two months of the publication of the regulations for use, any person may also submit written observations to the Director…

Within two months of publication of the application for registration, an opposition may be filed with the Director General of the Institut national de la propriété industrielle against an application for registration in the event of infringement of one of the following earlier rights having effect in France: 1° An earlier trademark pursuant to 1° of I of Article L. 711-3 ; 2° An earlier trade mark with a reputation…

The following persons may file an opposition on the basis of one or more of the rights mentioned in Article L. 712-4, provided that these rights belong to the same proprietor: 1° The proprietor of an earlier trade mark referred to in 1° and 2° of Article L. 712-4; 2° The beneficiary of an exclusive right to use an earlier registered trade mark referred to in 1° and 2° of…

The Director General of the National Institute of Industrial Property shall rule on the opposition after an adversarial procedure including an investigation phase, under the conditions defined by decree in the Council of State. The opposition shall be deemed to have been rejected if the Director General of the Institute has not ruled within the time limit, set by the same decree, which runs from the date on which this…

Opposition based on an earlier trade mark that has been registered for more than five years shall be rejected where the opponent, at the request of the proprietor of the application for registration, cannot establish: 1° That the earlier trade mark has been put to genuine use, in respect of the goods or services on which the opposition is based, during the five years preceding the filing date or priority…

If a registration has been applied for either in fraud of the rights of a third party or in breach of a legal or contractual obligation, the person who believes he or she has a right to the mark may claim ownership of it in court. Unless the applicant is acting in bad faith, an action to claim ownership is barred by five years from the publication of the application…

If a trade mark protected in a State party to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property has been registered in France in the name of the agent or representative of the proprietor of that trade mark without the authorisation of the proprietor, the latter may: 1° Oppose the use of the trade mark by his agent or representative; 2° Request the assignment of the trade mark to…