Following the article L. 711-1 of the Intellectual property Code, all trademark applications must be able to be represented in the french official IP registry. Graphic representation is not mandatory.

Wordmarks (words, names, numbers, slogans…) :

“LACOSTE”, “N° 5”, “LOUIS VUITTON”, “BECAUSE I’M WORTH IT”…

Figurative marks (a logo without words, or a logo with words) :

A shade or color (with Pantone code) :

Sound marks :

A musical staff or intelligible representation
A sound recording in the form of an MP3 file

Hologram marks :

A video and sound in the form JPEG or MP4

Ex. : Google hologram trademark :

Position mark :

Henderson shoes :

Pattern mark :

Motion mark :

When a trademark application is filed in France, a priority can be claimed on the basis of the article 4 (A) (C) of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (1883).

The priority claimed must be based on a prior trademark, filed in one the Union States.

The priority can be claimed no later than six months after the filing date of the prior trademark.

The second application must respect the following conditions :

• the lists of products and services must be identical
• the owner must be identical
• the mark (logo, word mark…) must be identical

The is no official or professional fees for a priority claim.

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The period of validity of a french trademark is 10 years from the filing date.

It is possible to renew a french trademark, for a new period of ten years. The number of renewal is not limited.

2 period of renewal in France :

It is possible to renew a french trademark only into 2 particular periods :

• Normal renewal :

In period of normal renewal, it is possible to renew a french trademark 12 months before the expiry date.

• Grace period :

The grace period starts the day after the expiry date, and ends 6 months after, less 1 day.

Official fees :

Official fees has to be paid to the French Office :

• Normal renewal :
  • In 1 class : 290 € (=320 USD)
  • For 1 additional class : 40 € (=45 USD)
• Grace period :
  • In 1 class : 435 € (=480 USD)
  • For 1 additional class : 60 € (=65 USD)

Official fees of grace period cannot be added to official fees in normal period.

There is no other official fees for renewal.

Example (for a trademark in 1 or 4 classes):

• Filing date : April 14th, 2012
• Expiry date : April 14th, 2022

The normal renewal period starts on April 14th, 2021 (00h01) and ends on April 14h 2022 (23h59).

> Official fees for 1 class : 290€ (=320 USD)

> Official fees for 4 classes : 410€ (290€ + 40€ + 40€+ 40€) (=450 USD)

The grace period starts on April 15th, 2022 (00h01), and ends on October 14th, 2022 (23h59).

> Official fees for 1 class : 435€ (=480 USD)

> Official fees for 4 classes : 615€ (435€ + 60€ + 60€ + 60€) (=675 USD)

Professional fees :

Our IP firm charges professional fees for the renewal of the trademarks whose management has been entrusted to us. These fees are in principle calculated according to the number of classes, or by exception to the package when a large number of trademarks is entrusted to us. We are committed to keeping fees low, and there is no additional professional fees in grace period.. If we are entrusted for numerous trademark, an annual fix price can be studied.  You can request access to our website to know all our rates systematically updated.

Deadlines monitoring :

A renewal notice is sent to you 3 months before the expiry date of the trademark.
This renewal notice takes the form of an invoice:

• In the absence of payment within the time limit, a credit note is sent to you automatically. Then a new invoice is issued including the renewal fee in grace period.
• In the absence of payment during the grace period, a credit note is automatically sent to you.

The renewal is done by us after confirmation of our accounting department. Only payment is worth instructions.

Publication

All trademark applications are published on the “BOPI” (Intellectual Property Official newsletter”. This is an equivalent of the official journal, reserved for IP.

When the application is published on the BOPI, this appears on the french trademark database (available on https://data.inpi.fr), with the official date of publication. The publications lasts 2 months.

Exemple :
“Historique
Publication 17/12/2021 (BOPI 2021-50)”

During the publication perdio of 2 months, it is possible to file an opposition. The date taken into account is the date of filing of the opposition.

Opposition against…
An opposition can be filed in France against :
– a french trademark application
– an international trademark designating France

An opposition based on…
An opposition can be based on the following priori rights :
– a trademark application
– an international trademark designating France
– an european trademark
– a well-known french mark ((not filed but very famous)
– a renowned mark (filed and very famous in France of European Union), under special conditions
– a french company name
– a domain name exploited in all of France (shipping, currency…)
– a sign or trade name exploited in all of France
– an Appellation of Controlled Origin
– a name of a governmental or local public authority

An opposition filed by…
– The owner of the prior right
– its attorney (a “Conseil en Propriété Industrielle” is a french attorney accreditec by INPI. It is a regulated profession).

To use the service of an attorney is not mandatory except in the following cases :
– if the prior right is a trademark owned by various owners
– or if opponent is not based in ont of the 27 states of European Union

Fees for filing an opposition :
The official fees for filing an opposition are :
– 400€ (=440 $)
– and 150€ (=170 $) for each additionnal prior right

Proof of use
One of the main argument in defense is to ask proof of the genuine use of the prior right, if he has been filed from more than 5 years.

Likelihood of confusion
A likelihood of confusion must be proved in attack in most of cases. The prior right can be identical of similar, from the point of view of the normal consumer. The likelihood of confusion must target the marks but the liste of products and services too.

Course
– The first period of the opposition is dedicated to negociation.
– After that, the french office makes its decision in three months. It is a written proceeding, but oral in rare cases can be required.
– An appeal can be filed in the X days following the decision date. INPI is discharged of the case, and the Court takes over the case.

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