FRANCE

Registration of trademarks France is a party to the Madrid Protocol, the Madrid Agreement, and the European Union. Additionally, Corsica and the following French overseas departments are protected by a French trademark: Guadeloupe (GP), Martinique (MQ), French Polynesia (PF), French Guiana (GF), Réunion (RE), and Guadeloupe (GP). Along with the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (TF), it also offers protection in the French overseas communities of New Caledonia (NC), Saint-Barthelemy and the French portion of Saint-Martin, St. Pierre and Miquelon (PM), Mayotte (YT), Wallis and Futuna (WF), and others. Registration is required to get trademark protection (apart from well-known trademarks).

Requirements

It is necessary to submit a trademark application to the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI). If the application is submitted directly by the applicant, through a French Industrial Property Counsel, or through an Attorney at Law, no power of attorney is required. A domestic registration is not required for foreign candidates.

Trademark Requirement Procedure

There is no search for previous trademarks throughout the application procedure; instead, there is a formal examination and an examination of distinctiveness. The entire process, from initial submission to registration, takes about 4-6 months. The trademark is published in the weekly “B.O.P.I. marques” following registration. After the trademark application is published, there is a two-month window for opposition.

Duration

In France, a trademark registration is effective from the registration date for a period of ten years. Ten-year renewal periods are available for the registration.