#Trademark Registration in France: IP Lawyer in Paris

Filing a trademark shapes your entire intellectual property strategy. A poorly chosen sign, a forgotten class or an overlooked prior right weakens your protection for ten years. Our firm assists businesses and creators at every stage of the procedure before the French National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI). Every situation is different: we tailor our work to your project.

Why register a trademark in France?

A trademark protects a distinctive sign that identifies your goods or services. In France, ownership of a trademark is acquired through registration. Under Article L712-1 of the French Intellectual Property Code (Code de la propriété intellectuelle), registration takes effect from the filing date of the application, for a period of ten years that can be renewed indefinitely.

Without a filing, you have no enforceable exclusive right of use. A competitor can then use an identical or similar sign. Filing gives you a title, a legally certain filing date and a scope of protection defined by the goods and services covered.

Key steps of the INPI trademark filing procedure

The filing procedure follows a precise sequence. We secure each phase to avoid refusals and oppositions.

The clearance search. Before any filing, we check that the sign is available. The aim is to rule out identical or similar earlier trademarks that could support an opposition or an infringement action.

Defining the goods and services. You must classify your goods and services under the international Nice Classification, which organises them into forty-five classes. An imprecise specification delays the examination or causes it to fail. We draft a specification that is both protective and compliant.

Online filing. Filing is carried out exclusively online, on the INPI e-procedures portal. The Institute then issues a receipt stating the national filing number.

Publication in the BOPI. Your filing is published in the Official Bulletin of Industrial Property (BOPI) within about six weeks.

Examination and the opposition period. The INPI examines the application as to form and substance. After publication, a two-month period opens during which third parties holding an earlier right may file an opposition or submit observations.

Registration. If there is no obstacle, the INPI registers the trademark after a minimum period of five months, then issues the certificate.

Why plan ahead from the start of the project?

Many businesses file their trademark late, once the name has already been used publicly. This haste creates a risk: a third party may have filed the same sign in the meantime, or an unknown prior right may resurface. Filing early fixes a priority date and protects the investment made in your communication.

Planning ahead also lets you adjust the name before it is set in stone across your materials. If the clearance search reveals an obstacle, the sign can still be changed at lower cost. Once the trademark is in use, such a change becomes far more burdensome. Ideally, we therefore step in from the design phase of your identity.

The role of an intellectual property lawyer

Our firm does not stop at the filing. We build protection that is consistent with your business.

We carry out the clearance search and its legal analysis. We draft the specification of classes. We respond to INPI notifications and handle opposition proceedings, whether you are bringing or defending an opposition. We monitor your trademark after registration and prepare its ten-yearly renewal. In the event of infringement, we bring the infringement actions provided for by Articles L713-2 et seq. of the Intellectual Property Code.

This support ties in with your other intangible assets: domain names, designs, copyright. We link your trademark strategy to your development, in France and internationally.

Choosing and securing your sign

Not all trademarks can be registered. The sign must be distinctive, lawful and available. A trademark that merely describes your goods will be refused: a sign that designates the nature, quality or intended purpose of the product does not meet the distinctiveness requirement. A misleading sign or one contrary to public policy will be rejected in the same way.

Availability deserves particular attention. A sign may be free in terms of trademarks, yet conflict with an earlier company name, trade name, domain name or copyright. We therefore extend the search beyond the trademark register alone, to cover all earlier rights that could be raised against you.

The scope of the classes is a strategic trade-off. Too narrow, it leaves blind spots that a competitor can exploit. Too broad, it weakens the trademark, because a trademark not used for certain goods is exposed to revocation for lack of genuine use. We calibrate the specification to your actual business and to your five-year development plans.

After registration: monitoring and enforcement

Filing is not an end in itself. A trademark has a life of its own: it must be monitored and defended. We set up a watch on later filings to detect similar signs and react within the two-month opposition period. This vigilance prevents a competing trademark from becoming established on your market.

In the event of infringement, several routes are available. An infringement action sanctions the unauthorised use of an identical or similar sign, on the basis of Articles L713-2 et seq. of the Intellectual Property Code. Opposition proceedings before the INPI, for their part, make it possible to block a registration at an early stage. Together, we choose a strategy proportionate to the stakes and to the harm suffered.

Finally, the ten-yearly renewal determines whether the title survives. We anticipate the deadlines and handle the formalities with the INPI to keep your protection in place without interruption.

French, EU or international trademark?

The choice of territory depends on your market. A French trademark protects the national territory only. A European Union trademark, filed with the EUIPO, covers the twenty-seven Member States. The international route, through the Madrid System administered by WIPO, extends protection to many countries on the basis of a basic mark. We guide you towards the strategy best suited to your budget and your ambitions.

Frequently asked questions

How long is a trademark protected in France? Protection lasts ten years from filing. It can be renewed indefinitely, for ten-year periods, as long as you carry out the renewal.

What is the Nice Classification? It is the international classification that divides goods and services into forty-five classes. It defines the scope of your protection.

What happens during the opposition period? For two months after publication in the BOPI, the holder of an earlier right may oppose the registration if they consider that your trademark infringes their rights.

Can I file a trademark already used by a competitor? No. A sign identical or similar to an earlier trademark, for identical or similar goods, exposes you to an opposition and then to an infringement action. The clearance search prevents this risk.

Official sources

Law as verified on 5 October 2026.

• Article L712-1 of the French Intellectual Property Code (acquisition of the trademark through registration, ten-year term renewable indefinitely) – Légifrance (in French)
• Article L713-2 of the French Intellectual Property Code (prohibition on the use of an identical or similar sign) – Légifrance (in French)
• “Key steps in filing a trademark” – INPI (in French)

This article presents the applicable legal framework and does not constitute personalised legal advice. Every situation is different. In accordance with the rules of the profession (RIN, French national rules of the legal profession), our firm assists you without any guarantee of outcome.