French Intellectual Property Code

Subject to the provisions of articles L. 613-2-1 et L. 611-18, the protection conferred by a patent on a product containing or consisting of genetic information extends to any material in which the product is incorporated and in which the genetic information is contained and performs the function indicated. This protection does not apply in the case of the adventitious or accidental presence of patented genetic information in seeds, plant…

The protection conferred by a patent relating to a biological material endowed, as a result of the invention, with specific properties extends to any biological material obtained from that biological material by reproduction or multiplication and endowed with those same properties. The protection conferred by a patent relating to a process for producing a biological material endowed, as a result of the invention, with specific properties extends to the biological…

The protection referred to in articles L. 613-2-2 and L. 613-2-3 shall not extend to biological material obtained by reproduction or multiplication of biological material placed on the market in the territory of a Member State of the European Community or of a State party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area by the patent holder or with his consent, where the reproduction or multiplication necessarily results from the…

In the absence of the consent of the owner of the patent, the following are prohibited: a) The manufacture, offering, placing on the market, use, import, export, transhipment, or possession for the aforementioned purposes of the product which is the subject of the patent; b) The use of a process which is the subject of the patent or, where the third party knows or where circumstances make it obvious that…

1. It shall also be prohibited, in the absence of the consent of the owner of the patent, to deliver or offer to deliver, on French territory, to a person other than those entitled to exploit the patented invention, the means of implementation, on that territory, of that invention relating to an essential element thereof, where the third party knows or where the circumstances make it obvious that those means…

The rights conferred by the patent do not extend: a) To acts performed in a private context and for non-commercial purposes; b) To acts performed on an experimental basis which relate to the subject matter of the patented invention; c) To the preparation of medicinal products made extemporaneously and by unit in pharmacies, on medical prescription, nor to acts concerning medicinal products so prepared ; d) To studies and trials…

As an exception to the provisions of Articles L. 613-2-2 and L. 613-2-3, the sale or any other act of commercialisation of plant reproductive material by the patent holder, or with his consent, to a farmer for farming purposes implies authorisation for the farmer to use the product of his harvest for reproduction or multiplication by himself on his own farm. The conditions for such use are those laid down…

As an exception to the provisions of articles L. 613-2-2 and L. 613-2-3, the sale or any other act of commercialisation of livestock or animal reproductive material by the patent holder, or with his consent, to a farmer implies authorisation for the latter to use the protected livestock for agricultural purposes, where appropriate in return for remuneration. This authorisation includes making the animal or animal reproductive material available for the…

The rights conferred by articles L. 613-2-2 and L. 613-2-3 do not extend to acts performed with a view to creating or discovering and developing other plant varieties.

The rights conferred by the patent do not extend to acts concerning the product covered by that patent, performed on French territory, after that product has been placed on the market in France or on the territory of a State party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area by the patent owner or with his consent unless there are legitimate grounds for that owner to oppose further marketing of…