Glossary
French: forclusion par tolérance
Forclusion par tolérance is a procedural rule that bars third-party actions against a trademark that has been registered and used by its owner for more than five years, where the third party knew of the registration and its use. A prior-right holder who has knowingly tolerated the later mark for five years can no longer sue to attack that registration or its use.
The closest US doctrines are laches and acquiescence — but with a decisive difference: those are equitable, fact-sensitive defenses, while forclusion par tolérance is a statutory, bright-line five-year rule laid down by the Intellectual Property Code. In its practical effect — immunizing a mark that has coexisted openly for five years — it also loosely resembles the way US incontestability cuts off certain challenges after five years, though the mechanisms are entirely distinct.
The bar protects the later mark against all types of prior rights: earlier trademarks, company names (dénominations sociales), trade names, shop signs (enseignes), domain names and copyrights.
For US brand owners with French or EU exposure, the rule turns monitoring into a hard obligation: sitting on knowledge of a conflicting registered and used mark for five years extinguishes the right to act. A trademark watch service exists precisely to catch conflicting filings within the opposition window — long before tolerance starts running.
See also: trademark opposition, statute of limitations, trademark cancellation.