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Article L511-4 of the French Intellectual Property Code

A design has a character of its own when the overall visual impression which it produces in the informed observer differs from that produced by any design disclosed before the date of filing of the application for registration or before the date of priority claimed. In assessing character of its own, account shall be taken of the freedom left to the designer in producing the design.

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Article L511-5 of the French Intellectual Property Code

The design of a part of a complex product shall be regarded as new and having its own character only to the extent that: a) The part, once incorporated into the complex product, remains visible during normal use of that product by the end user, with the exception of maintenance, service or repair; b) The visible features of the part as such fulfil the conditions of novelty and own character….

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Article L511-6 of the French Intellectual Property Code

A design shall be deemed to have been disclosed if it has been made available to the public by publication, use or any other means. There shall be no disclosure where the design could not reasonably have become known, according to the usual business practice in the sector concerned, to professionals acting in the European Community, before the date of filing of the application for registration or before the date…

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Article L511-8 of the French Intellectual Property Code

The following are not eligible for protection: 1° An appearance whose characteristics are exclusively imposed by the technical function of the product; 2° The appearance of a product whose exact shape and size must necessarily be reproduced so that it can be mechanically associated with another product by being brought into contact, connected, placed inside or outside under conditions that allow each of these products to fulfil its function. However,…

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Article L511-9 of the French Intellectual Property Code

The protection of the design conferred by the provisions of this Book shall be acquired by registration. It shall be granted to the creator or his successor in title. The author of the application for registration shall, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be regarded as the beneficiary of such protection.

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Article L511-10 of the French Intellectual Property Code

If a design has been registered 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 design may claim ownership in court. An action to claim ownership shall be barred after five years from the publication of the registration of the design or, in the case of bad faith, at…

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Article L511-11 of the French Intellectual Property Code

Subject to the provisions of international conventions to which France is a party, a foreigner who is neither established nor domiciled in the territory of a Member State of the European Community or of a State party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area shall benefit from the provisions of this Book provided that his country grants reciprocal protection to French designs.

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Article L512-1 of the French Intellectual Property Code

The application for registration shall be filed, on pain of invalidity, at the Institut national de la propriété industrielle where the applicant has his domicile or registered office in Paris or outside France. Where the applicant has his domicile or registered office in France outside Paris, he may, at his option, file the application for registration at the Institut national de la propriété industrielle or at the registry of the…

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Article L512-2 of the French Intellectual Property Code

The application for registration shall be filed in the forms and under the conditions laid down in this Book. It shall contain, on pain of inadmissibility, the identification of the applicant and a reproduction of the designs for which protection is sought. The application for registration shall be rejected if it appears: a) That it has not been submitted in the prescribed conditions and form; b) That its publication is…

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