In France, an invention can be protected either by filing a national patent or utility certificate application, or by designating France in a European or international (PCT) patent application. On the basis of a pending PCT application, patent protection in France is only available through the European phase.
This article summarises the formal requirements, particularities and costs of national patent and utility certificate applications in France. It reflects the current procedure, which was substantially reformed by the so-called Loi PACTE (Law No. 2019-486 of 22 May 2019), whose individual measures entered into force in stages during 2020.
1. National Patent Application
A national patent application in France (demande de brevet) can — as in Germany — be filed in any language. If the application is not already filed in French, a translation must be supplied within a period of two months from notification of a corresponding official communication pointing out the formal deficiency.
The French Patent and Trademark Office (Institut national de la propriété industrielle, INPI) first examines the application documents for formal deficiencies before the substantive examination. Among other things, it examines whether the subject matter of the claims is sufficiently supported by the detailed description, whether the claims are clear and intelligible, and whether the application relates to a single invention only. The formal examination also checks whether the claimed invention must be refused on the basis of a statutory exclusion from patentability. As in Germany, computer programs and business methods, for example, cannot be protected by patents.
Provided that the official fees are paid within the statutory period (filing fee for electronic filing: EUR 26, including the first annuity; search fee: EUR 520; a 50 % reduction applies to natural persons, SMEs and non-profit/research or teaching bodies — as of June 2026), the INPI draws up a preliminary search report, which is supplemented by a written opinion on patentability. In terms of structure and scope, the search report is similar to an Extended European Search Report drawn up by the European Patent Office.
Where the application is filed as a first filing (i.e. without claiming priority), the search is not carried out by the INPI itself but by the European Patent Office as a subcontractor of the national office. As a rule, the preliminary search report is then available within nine months from the filing date — a period somewhat longer than the eight-month target the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) aims for (though does not always meet) and longer than the average processing time at the UK Intellectual Property Office.
Where the application is filed as a subsequent filing (i.e. claiming priority), the INPI invites the applicant, around six months after publication of the application, to submit the search results of the office of first filing. Unlike under the European procedure, however, providing this information is voluntary: the application is not deemed withdrawn if the applicant does not comply with the request. As with a first filing, the INPI will then send the preliminary search report.
Within a period of three months from publication of the preliminary search report, any third party may file observations against the grant. Unlike the European procedure under Art. 115 EPC, however, anonymous observations against a French patent application are not accepted.
If documents in category X or Y are cited in the preliminary search report, a response to the report must be filed within an extendable period of three months.
A key change introduced by the Loi PACTE concerns the substantive examination. Since 22 May 2020, the INPI also examines inventive step and may refuse a patent application solely on the ground that the claimed subject matter lacks inventive step (Art. L. 612-12 of the French Intellectual Property Code). Previously, the INPI could only refuse an application on the basis of objections regarding lack of novelty; doubts as to inventive step were merely placed on file in the final search report and left to be resolved, if necessary, before the ordinary courts. This is no longer the case: inventive step is now a ground for refusal during examination, which considerably strengthens the robustness of granted French patents.
Where a response to the preliminary search report is required, it is strongly advisable to submit at least some claims whose subject matter is both novel and inventive. It is also advisable not to put on file, when responding to the search report, any statements that could be used before the ordinary courts to interpret the scope of protection of the invention restrictively. In this respect, proceedings before the INPI display features comparable to the prosecution-history estoppel known — to the applicant’s disadvantage — from the US grant procedure.
The substantive examination by the INPI is concluded on the basis of the documents cited in the search report, any third-party observations, and the applicant’s response to the preliminary search report. A final search report is served on the applicant.
After payment of the grant and printing fees (EUR 90 in total, as of June 2026), the patent specification is published together with the final search report.
Contrary to the position before the reform, French law now provides for an opposition procedure. Since 1 April 2020, any third party may file an opposition against a French patent before the INPI within nine months of grant (applicable to patents granted as of that date) — comparable to the procedure in Germany and before the EPO. Independently of this, the proprietor may also request a voluntary limitation procedure after grant.
The term of a patent in France ends 20 years after the filing date.
2. National Utility Certificate Application
As a cost-effective and rapid alternative to a patent application in France, an application for a utility certificate (certificat d’utilité) is available, for which no substantive examination is provided.
The most significant change here also stems from the Loi PACTE: the maximum term of the utility certificate was extended from 6 to 10 years from the filing date, with effect from 11 January 2020 (Decree No. 2020-15 of 8 January 2020). The extension applies not only to utility certificates filed as of that date but also to those still in force on 10 January 2020. The term therefore now corresponds to that of a German utility model (Gebrauchsmuster).
The formal requirements for filing a utility certificate correspond to those of a patent application in France. No search fee is payable, so that only the filing fee (EUR 26, as of June 2026) is due.
As a rule, the utility certificate application is published about 18 months after filing. This is a key difference from the German utility model application, which is published upon registration (i.e. usually about three months after filing). Early publication can, however, also be requested in France.
After publication of the utility certificate application, any third party may file observations within a period of three months. After payment of the grant and printing fees by the applicant, the utility certificate is registered.
Unlike for a patent in France, the proprietor of a utility certificate must request a search of the prior art from the INPI if it wishes to enforce the rights under the certificate against competitors and infringers. Only the search confers on the proprietor the standing to sue.
Where a utility certificate and a patent in France relate to the same subject matter, have the same filing date and were filed by the same applicant, the utility certificate loses effect upon grant of the patent in France. This corresponds to the prohibition of double protection that also exists under German and European patent law.
A further new feature introduced by the Loi PACTE is convertibility: since 11 January 2020, a utility certificate application can be converted into a patent application (previously, only the reverse — conversion of a patent application into a utility certificate — was possible). This makes the utility certificate a considerably more flexible starting point than before.
3. Provisional Patent Application
The Loi PACTE also created an entirely new filing option. Since 1 July 2020, it has been possible to file a provisional patent application (demande provisoire de brevet). This is a simplified, lower-cost initial filing that secures a filing date and must be completed (regularised into a regular patent application) within a period of twelve months, failing which it is deemed withdrawn. The provisional application is intended in particular to make an early filing date more accessible to start-ups, SMEs and individual inventors.
4. Particularities of French Patent Law
The following further particularities should be noted in connection with granted patents in France.
A granted patent in France applies not only to the European territory of France but also to the French overseas territories (La France d’Outre-Mer), including the overseas departments of Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, Réunion and Mayotte, the collectivités d’outre-mer (COM), the collectivité sui generis (CSG) of New Caledonia, and the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (TAAF).
A working requirement (obligation d’exploiter) applies to granted patents in France: the invention must actually be worked, within a period of three years, in the territory of at least one Member State of the European Economic Community. The period is generally calculated from grant of the patent. If the invention is not worked, a third party wishing to work the invention may demand the grant of a compulsory licence against payment of compensation.
5. Our Assessment
The Loi PACTE has noticeably improved the attractiveness of the utility certificate. Both the extended term of 10 years (which, with regular publication 18 months after the filing or priority date, amounts to a de facto term of about 8.5 years) and the new possibility of converting the application into a patent application increase the economic value of this right. Applying the apud model of the Industrieclub Düsseldorf, the average value of the utility certificate in France now stands at roughly 25 % of the average value of a granted patent in France (10/20 × 0.5), compared with around 15 % under the previous 6-year term. The utility certificate is therefore worth considering far more often than was the case in 2015, when we recommended it only in rare special situations.
A national patent application in France comes into consideration in particular where the applicant does not want a PCT application but needs protection in only a few European countries, including France. In such cases, filing national applications — for example patent applications in Germany, the United Kingdom and France only, either as first or subsequent filings — may be economically sensible instead of a PCT or European application. In view of the steadily rising costs of grant proceedings before the European Patent Office, we expect industry’s interest in national grant proceedings in Europe to increase again.
Finally, the introduction of an examination of inventive step and of a post-grant opposition procedure means that French patents are now considerably more robust and legally certain than under the regime described before 2020 — addressing a concern that was, with good reason, frequently raised in practice.
Photo: © Martie Swart, [CC BY 2.0]
