Intellectual property - France

Updated 09/2009

Legal requirements

Innovations, as well as being a way for companies to become more competitive and capture new markets, are also intellectual assets that must be protected. France's intellectual property code protects business assets in the field of innovation and intellectual property.

Intellectual property code
18 factsheets on intellectual property

To protect innovations, a business can:

identify which of its innovations can be protected (product, know-how, software, etc.);
choose the level of legal protection to suit the innovation;
maintain confidentiality;
prove the existence of its innovations (tracking system, recorded evidence, lab book);
obtain industrial property titles (patent, trademark, design/model, etc.);
verify and acquire third-party rights;
claim IPRs (legal flow chart, warnings, clauses in contracts, etc.);
lay traps in its creations (deliberate errors);
enhance its innovations;
maintain its intellectual property.
Protecting your innovations

Intellectual property rights

France's industrial property law (DPI) protects aspects such as:

designs/models
software
know-how
domain names
trademarks

Innovation protection options for businesses:

R&D project contracts
contracts in joint R&D projects
patents
trademarks
registrations
Soleau envelope (innovation tracking)

Intellectual property protection bodies

Three bodies are responsible for intellectual property:

national: national industrial property institute ;
European: office of harmonisation for the internal market ;
international: world intellectual property organization.
National industrial property institute
Office of harmonisation for the internal market
World intellectual property organization

Property rights encourage investment in innovation and research.

Administrative procedures

Registration

In France, businesses are advised to register and protect innovations with the national industrial property institute (INPI). Procedures can be completed online (filing patents, registering trademarks, etc.).

INPI online procedures

Resources

The guide to intellectual property in competitiveness clusters aims to raise awareness among those involved in R&D projects and also offer them legal tools for anticipating and resolving difficulties. It provides factsheets, summaries of regulations, methodology and contract tools, etc.

Guide to intellectual property in competitiveness clusters
18 factsheets on intellectual property

INPI also has research databases on trademarks, patents and designs/models to help answer questions on industrial property.

INPI services

The technology exchange is a central database containing offers relating to transferable patents.

Technology exchange

Check also the legislation on this topic in:

Intellectual property - France