French Intellectual Property Code

Any opposition filed after the deadline, or filed by a person who was not entitled to do so, or which does not comply with the conditions set out in articles R. 712-13 and R. 712-14, is declared inadmissible. Where the opposition is based on several prior rights, it is declared inadmissible only if all of these rights do not comply with the conditions set out in articles R. 712-13 and…

When an opposition is referred to it, the National Institute of Industrial Property shall observe and observe itself the principle of contradiction. It may not base its decision on pleas, explanations or documents put forward or produced by the parties without the latter having been given the opportunity to debate them in adversarial proceedings. The parties to the opposition are required to expressly state their claims and the factual and…

Subject to inadmissibility raised ex officio by the Institute, the examination phase referred to in Article L. 712-5 begins on expiry of the additional period referred to in the last paragraph of Article R. 712-14. Subject to the cases of suspension or termination of the procedure provided for in Articles R. 712-17 and R. 712-18, the opposition shall be investigated in accordance with the following procedure: 1° The opposition shall…

The period referred to in the second paragraph of article L. 712-5 is three months. The date of the end of the investigation phase referred to in the same article occurs if a party has not submitted observations by the end of the periods referred to in 1° to 5° of article R. 712-16-1 and, at the latest, on the day on which oral observations are presented. The Director General…

The examination phase or the time limit set in the first paragraph of Article R. 712-16-2 are suspended: 1° Where the opposition is based in whole or in part on an application for registration of a trade mark, on an application for a geographical indication or on a geographical indication whose specification is the subject of an application for amendment affecting the basis of the opposition; 2° In the event…

The opposition proceedings are closed: 1° Where the opponent has withdrawn the opposition or lost standing; 2° Where the opposition has become moot as a result either of an agreement between the parties or of the cessation of the effects of the trade mark application against which the opposition was filed; 3° Where the effects of all earlier rights have ceased; 4° Where, after suspension of the opposition proceedings in…

Where opposition proceedings are suspended pursuant to the provisions of 1° of Article R. 712-17, they shall be resumed, at the request of one of the parties or, where applicable, at the initiative of the Institute, once registration of the trademark, geographical indication or approval or amendment of the specification of the geographical indication has been noted. Where opposition proceedings are suspended pursuant to the provisions of 2° and 3°…

Until the start of technical preparations for registration, the applicant may be authorized, by written request addressed to the Director of the National Institute of Industrial Property, to rectify material errors found in the documents filed. The Institute may require justification of the reality of the material error to be rectified and the meaning of the correction requested.

The application for registration may be withdrawn until technical preparations for registration have begun. Withdrawal may be limited to part of the application. It is effected by a declaration sent to the National Institute of Industrial Property under the conditions laid down by decision of its Director General. A declaration of withdrawal may relate to only one trademark. It shall be formulated by the applicant or by his agent who,…

The trade mark is registered, unless the application has been rejected or withdrawn. A certificate is sent to the applicant. The registration is published in the Official Industrial Property Bulletin. The date on which a trademark is deemed to be registered, in particular for the application of articles L. 712-4 and L. 714-5, is: 1° For French trademarks, that of the Bulletin officiel de la propriété industrielle in which the…