French Intellectual Property Code

Any creator of designs belonging to one of the industries referred to in Article R. 511-2 or to similar industries who has an interest in having the date of creation of designs established may have recourse to the means of proof provided for in articles R. 511-3 to R. 511-5 .

The provisions of article R. 511-1 are applicable to the industries of engravers, stampers, jewellers, goldsmiths, bronze manufacturers and related industries, embroiderers, lace manufacturers, silk manufacturers, ribbon making, fabrics and textiles, foundry typography, glass and bottle making, furniture, ceramics, crystal, ice and glassware, tapestry and decoration, upholstery fabrics, tapestries and carpets, the manufacture of billiards and related industries, the manufacture of wallpaper, fur and furs, costume jewellery of all kinds…

Drawings or graphic reproductions of designs must be drawn up on a sheet of paper of which only one side is used; the parts left free must be filled in by hatching stopping at the very limit of the drawing and no more than 20 millimetres apart; the dimensions of the paper to be used are 21 x 29.7 or 42 x 29.7. On this reproduction shall be mentioned all…

These drawings are copied at the press on their date into a copy book or reproduced by transfer onto a special register formed from sheets of bubble paper to be stitched thin enough so that they cannot contain any scratching or overprinting; these registers are endorsed and stamped, before use, by the National Institute of Industrial Property under the conditions determined by ministerial order. The documents thus copied or reproduced…

Either of these registers, regularly kept in date order, without blanks or gaps, may, in the event of disputes, be produced with a view to establishing the date of the creation whose priority is disputed.