French Intellectual Property Code

Opposition may only be based on one or more of the following grounds: 1° The subject matter of the patent is not patentable under the terms of Articles L. 611-10, L. 611-11 and L. 611-13 to L. 611-19; 2° The patent does not set out the invention clearly and completely enough for a person skilled in the art to be able to carry it out; >The subject matter of the…

The Director General of the Institut national de la propriété industrielle shall decide on the opposition after an adversarial procedure including an examination phase, under the conditions defined by decree in the Conseil d’Etat. The decision of the Director General of the Institut shall have the effect of a judgment within the meaning of Article L. 111-3 of the Code of Civil Enforcement Procedures. The decision of the Director General…

I.-During the opposition proceedings, the proprietor of the contested patent may amend the claims of that patent provided that: 1° the amendments made meet one of the grounds for opposition mentioned in Article L. 613-23-1 raised by the opponent; > and 2° The amendments made do not extend the subject-matter of the patent beyond the contents of the application as filed or, where the patent has been granted on the…

When the Director General of the Institut national de la propriété industrielle grants the opposition on one of the grounds mentioned in Article L. 613-23-1 raised by the opponent, the patent may be: 1° revoked in whole or in part; 2° Maintained in an amended form taking into account the amendments made by the proprietor during the course of the procedure pursuant to Article L. 613-23-3. Where the Director General…

Each of the parties to the opposition proceedings shall bear the costs it has incurred, unless the Director General of the National Institute of Industrial Property decides on a different apportionment of those costs, insofar as equity requires, and within the limits of a scale set by order of the Minister responsible for industrial property.

The revocation decision has absolute effect. The effects of decisions ruling on opposition are retroactive to the filing date of the patent application. Where a decision on opposition partially revokes the patent, it refers the proprietor back to the National Institute of Industrial Property to request that the patent be amended to comply with the decision. However, this request is only admissible if the decision ruling on the opposition is…

The owner of the patent may at any time either renounce the patent in its entirety or one or more claims, or limit the scope of the patent by amending one or more claims. The request for renunciation or limitation shall be filed with the National Institute of Industrial Property under conditions laid down by regulation. The Director of the National Institute of Industrial Property shall examine the compliance of…

The patent is declared invalid by court decision: a) If its subject matter is not patentable under the terms of Articles L. 611-10, L. 611-11 and L. 611-13 to L. 611-19; b) If it does not set out the invention clearly and completely enough for a person skilled in the art to be able to carry it out; c) If its subject matter extends beyond the contents of the application…

The public prosecutor may act ex officio to invalidate a patent.

A decision to revoke a patent has absolute effect subject to third party opposition. In respect of patents applied for before 1 January 1969, the revocation shall apply to the parts of the patent determined by the operative part of the decision. Decisions which have become res judicata shall be notified to the Director of the National Institute of Industrial Property for entry in the National Patent Register. When the…