Eurimark is helping us for fast trademark registration; we benefit from a 24/7 service to answer our clients' most urgent requests. We appreciate the number of countries covered by the system that allows us to centralize for a single project all the registrations with only one contact.
Eurimark est le système le plus intelligent pour effectuer une recherche globale concernant la protection d'un nom de marque en Europe.
Trademark protection in France
France’s first legislation regarding Trademarks dates back to the nineteen century. 70 000 French Trademark applications are nowadays filed every year.
What is a French Trademark?
The French Trademark Law states that any symbol which may be represented graphically and is used to distinguish a company's products and services is a Trademark. The Trademark will have to possess a distinctive character or nature.
The main interest of a French Trademark is the possibility to obtain rapidly and at a low cost the registration of the application. Enforcement of this right will therefore be quickly possible. A French Trademark is designed for businesses trading with this country.
What is not a Trademark?
The French Trademark Office may refuse to register a Trademark on the basis of absolute grounds. These grounds are inter alia:
- the absence of distinctive power, and particularly generic or common terms;
- an interference to the morality or the public order; or
- a deceptive character.
The owner of a French Trademark can be everyone: an individual, a company, or any other entity with a legal capacity.
Why apply to register?
According to the French Trademark Law, exclusive rights to use the Trademark belong to the first applicant. Use of a Trademark in France does not confer any rights without a trademark registration to support it. A third party applying for a trademark already in use may therefore be the lawful owner of this trademark and will be entitled to prevent the prior user from using on the Trademark.
Territorial extent of a French Trademark:
Protection extends to all French territories, and therefore to all the French overseas territories.
No availability search is conducted by the French Trademark Office. It is therefore highly recommended to conduct a preliminary search through the French, Community and International registers as far as France is designated. Identical and similarity searches can be conducted in short time periods.
An opposition procedure is open to third parties in order to protect their prior trademark rights. An opposition may be filed within the two months following the publication of the application.
Claiming the priority of national trademarks:
The priority of a foreign Trademark application may be claimed in the French Trademark Application, provided that the French application is filed less than six months after the filing date of the prior foreign application.
Obligation of use:
It is compulsory to use the French Trademark effectively and seriously during the five years following its registration. Any third party may request the forfeiture or the revocation of the Rights on the grounds of lack of use in case no justification of this non-use is provided.
Free transfer of the French Trademark rights: For the optimal operation of companies, it is essential to be able to transfer and assign a Trademark. A French Trademark may be transferred, together with or separately from any transfer of the undertaking which is its owner, in respect of some or all of the goods or services for which it is registered.
An exclusive or non-exclusive license of the French Trademark may also be agreed and should be registered with the French Trademark Office to be opposable to third parties.
Steps to obtain a registration are quite simple: just provide us with the Trademark, the products and/or services provided under this mark, together with the name and address of the owner, or click here to conduct your search and apply online.