French Intellectual Property Code

The Institut national de la propriété industrielle is a public establishment with legal personality and financial autonomy, reporting to the Minister responsible for industrial property. The mission of this establishment is: 1° To centralise and disseminate all information necessary for the protection of innovations and for the registration of companies, as well as to undertake any awareness-raising and training activities in these areas; 2° To apply the laws and regulations…

The Institute’s revenue is made up of all fees collected in respect of industrial property and the national register of companies, up to the ceiling provided for in I of Article 46 of Finance Act 2011-1977 of 28 December 2011 for 2012. The portion of the fees collected by the Institute for the maintenance in force of European patents paid to the organisation created by Article 4 of the Convention…

The administrative and financial organisation of the Institute is laid down by decree in the Conseil d’Etat.

The Director General of the Institut national de la propriété industrielle shall take the decisions provided for in this code when issuing, rejecting or maintaining industrial property titles, as well as when approving, rejecting or amending the specifications of geographical indications defined in Article L. 721-2 or the withdrawal of such approval. It shall rule on applications for invalidity or revocation of trademarks and on oppositions filed against patents for…

Reasons shall be given for the rejection decisions referred to in the first paragraph of Article L. 411-4, for decisions ruling on an opposition filed against an application for registration of a trade mark and for decisions ruling on an application for relief from revocation in respect of trade marks or designs. The same shall apply to decisions ruling on an application for invalidity or revocation of trade marks or…