Revocation for non-use

The action for déchéance pour non-usage seeks the cancellation of a trademark that has not been used after the expiration of a five-year period following its registration. It is the French/EU counterpart of a US cancellation for abandonment — with structural differences US counsel should keep in mind:

• In France and the EU, no use is required to file, register or renew a mark; there is no equivalent of Section 8/71 declarations of use. Unused registrations sit on the register until someone attacks them.
• The clock is a fixed five years from registration (versus the three-year non-use presumption of abandonment in US law).

Where to bring the action

• Before the INPI for French trademarks — an administrative procedure, and therefore less costly than court litigation;
• Before the EUIPO for European Union trademarks;
• Before the Tribunal judiciaire as a principal claim in certain cases.

As a defense weapon

The revocation claim can also be raised by counterclaim in court: in an infringement action, the defendant may argue that the plaintiff never used the mark it is suing on, and that the mark must therefore be cancelled. Non-use revocation is thus both a clearance tool — clearing deadwood blocking a new filing — and a standard defense in French trademark litigation.

See also: trademark revocation, trademark cancellation, trademark infringement in France.

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