PATENT FILING IN FRANCE

The National Intellectual Property Office of France is INPI (standing for Institut national de la propriété industrielle in French). France, in addition to PCT and Paris Convention applications, also accepts the patent applications through European Union. Apart from France, there are 5 other core states of European Union: Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands and West Germany. As per French patent law, technical inventions are defined in two ways:

 

1. Patent of Invention: It is granted for 20 years with a search report.

 

2. Utility Certificate: It is granted for 6 years without any search report.

 

With the vision of the French government for boosting the patent filings, GPF is dedicated in providing the one stop solution of all the requirements of patent filings. GPF can assist in efficiently and promptly, using accurate translations, filing of patent applications. GPF along with Khurana and Khurana, Advocates and IP Attorneys (K&K) has tremendous experience in dealing with Patent Filing/ Prosecution as per French Patent Laws, and can assist in hand-holding through the complete prosecution lifecycle of a Patent.

 

High Level Cost Estimate for Filing
Description
Price
Official Fee
€ 26.00
Attorney Fee
€ 50.00
Translation Fee
AS APPLICABLE
Total
€ 76.00 APPLICABLE TRANSLATION FEE

Documents Required
  • Power of Attorney (PoA)
  • French Translation of the Priority/ PCT Document
Filing to Grant Procedure
1
STEP 1 : FILING

A patent can be filed in France as any of the following formats:

  • Paris Convention based national entry.

  • PCT National Phase based national entry.

If the application is submitted in another language, French translation is required within 2 months from the date of submission of the application.

2
STEP 2 : PUBLICATION

Publication of French patents is done within 18 months of priority date.

3
STEP 3 : EXAMINATION

Request for examination has to be made within 6 months from the date of publication. 

4
STEP 4 : PROSECUTION

Response to Examination Report has to be submitted within 3 months from the date of First Examination Report (FER). 

5
STEP 5 : GRANT

Annuity for 3’rd year onwards is to be paid after grant of the Patent. Protection of the Patent is for 20 years from the International Filing Date.