The trademarks law in France is known as Law No. 91-7 of January 4, 1991 on Trademarks and Service Marks. France is a member of the Madrid Agreement, the Madrid Protocol and the European Union. In order to obtain trademark protection in France can be registered through one of the 3 available systems of trademark registration: National trademarks may be registered through the State Trademark Office, Registration in the entire European Union with one single application via the Community Trademark agreement which grants trademark protection in the 28 country members of the EU, International trademarks may be registered through W.I.P.O. system.

Trademark registration classification:

Nice Classification

Requirements:

• The applicant’s Name, nationality, address and legal form of the applicant.
• A sample of the mark; and  a list of the goods and services applied for in one or more classes of the Nice Classification with proof of payment of the filing fees.
• If priority is to be claimed, we need a certified copy of the priority documents.
• There is no need for a power of attorney form.

Procedure:

• The application is filed at the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI).
• If INPI accepts the application, it shall be published in the Trademark Gazette within six weeks of filing.
• INPI checks each filing to ascertain that the application for registration and documents annexed thereto comply with legal requirements in force, and that the sign is capable of constituting a mark
• The opposition period is 2 months from publication of the trademark application.

Duration and Renewal: A trademark registration is valid for 10 years from the date of application. The registration is renewable for periods of 10 years. Electronic renewals are now possible since December 2013. The renewal period is 6 months before the renewal deadline.

 Fee Structure 

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