Glossary
French: marque
A trademark (marque) is a distinctive sign capable of indicating the origin of goods and services. That short definition contains the two pillars of the concept, in France as in the United States: the sign must be distinctive, and its legal function is to identify a single commercial source, allowing consumers to attribute goods and services to one undertaking and to repeat a purchasing experience.
In French practice, a trademark is composed of two elements: a sign (a word, logo, color, sound or even motion) and a list of goods and services organized in the classes of the Nice Classification. Protection is confined to those goods and services under the principle of specialty.
In the United States, trademark rights arise from use in commerce. In France and the EU, rights arise from registration with the INPI or the EUIPO: first-to-file, no specimens, no declarations of use. Registration lasts ten years from filing and is renewable indefinitely (see trademark renewal) — subject to actual use once the mark is more than five years old, on pain of revocation for non-use.
For US companies entering the French or EU market, the practical sequence is: clearance search, then French and/or EU filing, then watch and enforcement.