France, officially the French Republic is a transcontinental country spanning Western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. Its metropolitan area extends from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea; overseas territories include French Guiana in South America and several islands in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. France borders Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany to the northeast, Switzerland, Monaco and Italy to the east, Andorra, and Spain to the south, as well as the Netherlands, Suriname, and Brazil in the Americas. Its eighteen integral regions (five of which are overseas) span a combined area of 643,801 km2 (248,573 sq. mi) and over 67 million people (as of May 2021). France is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the country’s largest city and main cultural and commercial centre; other major urban areas include Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lille, and Nice. Including its overseas territories, France has twelve time zones, the most of any country.
France (FR)
Intellectual property protection in France
Intellectual property office | National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) |
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Website | http://www.inpi.fr |
Contact details | 15 rue des Minimes CS 50001 92677 Courbevoie Cedex (33) 171 087 163 |
Patent
Time limit applicable for entry into the PCT national phase | PCT applications can be filed by Euro-PCT route only |
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Time limit applicable for filing Conventional application | 12 months from the priority date |
Language | French |
Representation | Foreign applicants must be represented by a French Patent Attorney |
Power of Attorney | Not required |
Trademark
Filing requirements |
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Multiple-class applications | Yes |
Power of Attorney | Not required |
Opposition period | Within two months from publication of the trademark application |
Representation | Foreign applicants must be represented by a French Trademark Attorney |
Industrial Design
Filing requirements |
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Multiple design applications | Yes, up to 100 (should be from same class of Locarno classification) |
Power of Attorney | Not required |
Examination | Formal examination |
Representation | Foreign applicants must be represented by a French Design Attorney |
Source: WIPO and Wikipedia