Glossary
The vocabulary you will meet in French and EU trademark matters — each term given in French and English, mapped to the closest U.S. concept where one exists.
Statutory bar under French law: after five years of known, tolerated use of a registered mark, prior-right holders can no longer attack it.
The person or company in whose name a French trademark is filed and who will own the mark — distinct from the agent who files the application.
Whether a sign can be used and registered without infringing prior rights — assessed by a clearance search before any French or EU filing.
France's official trademark gazette, published every Friday by the INPI — the French counterpart of the USPTO Official Gazette.
The denomination for which a trademark is filed — the verbal element of a mark, as opposed to the mark as a whole (sign plus goods and services).
Contract organizing how two similar trademarks are used side by side without confusion, avoiding opposition proceedings or litigation.
Umbrella category of French law covering all business identifiers: trademarks, company names, trade names, shop signs and distinctive domain names.
Core validity requirement for French and EU trademarks: descriptive terms cannot be monopolized, and non-distinctive marks can be invalidated.
The EU trademark office in Alicante, Spain — formerly OHIM — administering EU trademarks and Community designs, with fully online proceedings.
Opposition against an EU trademark application: 3-month deadline from publication, €320 fee, cooling-off period, about 12 months to decision.
A single registration covering all EU member states, filed at the EUIPO from €850 — unitary in effect, formerly called the Community trade mark.
The French statute governing trademarks (Book 7), copyright and industrial property — the closest French analog to the Lanham Act, in codified form.
A trademark filed with the INPI, valid throughout France (except French Polynesia without an extra fee) for renewable 10-year terms from filing.
With the sign, one of the two building blocks of a trademark: the list defining the scope of the monopoly, sorted into the 45 Nice classes.
The French national industrial property office — France's USPTO — handling trademarks, designs and patents, plus oppositions and post-grant actions.
Official fees payable to the French trademark office: filing €190 (one class, +€40 per extra class), opposition from €400, renewal €290 — no VAT.
Opposition against a French trademark application: 2-month deadline from publication, fees from €400, decided by the INPI in roughly 6 to 12 months.
A WIPO registration extending a basic mark to many countries in one filing — a bundle of national rights, dependent on the basic mark 5 years.
The decisive test in French and EU trademark conflicts — assessed on signs and goods/services; real marketing conditions are irrelevant.
The international classification of goods and services for trademarks — 45 classes driving filing fees and prior-rights searches.
The INPI's free industrial property review reporting French case law and legislative developments in trademarks, designs, patents and copyright.
Not a legal concept in French law: only 'contrefaçon' (infringement) is prohibited by the Intellectual Property Code. Plagiarism is a literary notion.
A trademark is protected only for the goods and services it covers; identical marks in unrelated fields must coexist — except for reputed marks.
Search to determine whether a sign is available for use and registration in France or the EU — identical search or full similarity search.
Paris Convention rule letting a second filing abroad within six months take the legal date of the first filing — with strict French formalities.
Loss of French trademark rights where the mark misleads the public on nature, quality or geographic origin — compare Section 2(a) deceptive marks.
Loss of French trademark rights when a mark becomes the common name for the goods — the French equivalent of genericide (think aspirin or escalator).
Action to cancel a French or EU trademark unused for five years after registration — France's counterpart to US abandonment, with no use declarations.
The element filed as a trademark — word, logo, color, sound or motion — and the object of comparison in oppositions and infringement cases.
Key factor in French infringement and opposition analysis: nature, purpose, use, channels, complementarity, public and common commercial source.
The three-way comparison of trademarks in French and EU practice: visual, phonetic and conceptual similarity between the signs at issue.
Full trademark search covering similar — not just identical — marks, using visual, phonetic and conceptual criteria to assess availability.
French trademark infringement claims are time-barred after five years — a fixed statutory period, unlike the US laches approach under the Lanham Act.
A distinctive sign capable of indicating the origin of goods and services — in France and the EU, a right acquired by registration, not by use.
Contract transferring ownership of a French or EU trademark; it must be recorded with the INPI or EUIPO to be enforceable against third parties.
Action to strip a French trademark of effect, before the INPI or courts, for non-use, deceptiveness, genericide, prior rights or bad faith.
One of the 45 Nice Classification categories organizing goods and services in a filing — administrative in nature, but decisive for fees.
Applying for a French or EU trademark: no use or intent-to-use required, fees from €190 (INPI) or €850 (EUIPO), 10-year term from filing.
Use of a sign similar — not identical — to an earlier mark, assessed visually, phonetically and conceptually; actionable if confusion is likely.
French 'contrefaçon' covers both counterfeiting (fake goods) and infringement by an identical or similar sign for identical or similar goods.
The body of rules governing trademarks and distinctive signs — in France, Book 7 of the Intellectual Property Code and the EU trademark regulations.
Administrative procedure to block registration of a trademark application — 2 months from publication at the INPI, 3 months at the EUIPO.
The proprietor of a trademark — individual or company, sole or joint; ownership changes must be recorded with the INPI to bind third parties.
In France, trademark rights are acquired by registration: filing, examination by the INPI or EUIPO, and survival of the opposition period.
The document issued by the INPI or the EUIPO once a trademark application matures to registration — typically within four to five months if unopposed.
Loss of French trademark rights on three grounds: five years of non-use, deceptive use, or the mark becoming generic.
The document that starts a French trademark infringement lawsuit — the French equivalent of a complaint plus service of process.