French Intellectual Property Code

In infringement proceedings brought pursuant to an application for a utility certificate, the applicant will be required to produce a search report drawn up under the same conditions as the report provided for in article L. 612-14.

In setting the damages, the court shall take into account separately: 1° The negative economic consequences of the infringement, including the loss of profit and loss suffered by the injured party; 2° The non-material damage caused to the injured party; 3° And the profits made by the infringer, including the savings on intellectual, material and promotional investments that the infringer has made as a result of the infringement. However, the…

In the event of a civil conviction for infringement, the court may order, at the request of the injured party, that the products recognised as infringing products and the materials and implements used principally in their creation or manufacture be recalled from commercial channels, permanently removed from such channels, destroyed or confiscated for the benefit of the injured party. The court may also order any appropriate measure to publicise the…

Actions for infringement under this section shall be barred after five years from the day on which the owner of a right knew or should have known of the last fact enabling him to exercise it. .

There is no limitation period for an action for invalidity of a patent.

Any person who can prove industrial exploitation on the territory of a Member State of the European Economic Community or effective and serious preparations to that effect may invite the proprietor of a patent to take a position on the enforceability of his title in respect of such exploitation, the description of which is communicated to him. If the said person contests the reply made to him or if the…

When an invention, which is the subject of a patent application or patent, is exploited for national defence purposes by the State or its suppliers, subcontractors and subcontractors, without an exploitation licence having been granted to them, the civil action shall be brought before the council chamber of the judicial court. The latter may not order either the cessation or interruption of exploitation or the confiscation provided for in Articles…