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.
French: motifs absolus de refus
The intrinsic defects of a sign — non-distinctive, descriptive, deceptive, functional or contrary to public policy — that the INPI examines on its own initiative.
Full definition →French: forclusion par tolérance
Statutory bar under French law: after five years of known, tolerated use of a registered mark, prior-right holders can no longer attack it.
Full definition →French: caractère distinctif acquis par l'usage
When a weak or descriptive sign earns registrability through intensive use — the French and EU counterpart of US secondary meaning under Section 2(f).
Full definition →French: déposant
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.
Full definition →French: disponibilité du signe
Whether a sign can be used and registered without infringing prior rights — assessed by a clearance search before any French or EU filing.
Full definition →French: dépôt frauduleux (dépôt de mauvaise foi)
A trademark filed dishonestly — to block a partner, hijack another's sign or with no intent to use — an invalidity ground broader than US fraud on the USPTO.
Full definition →French: BOPI — Bulletin Officiel de la Propriété Industrielle
France's official trademark gazette, published every Friday by the INPI — the French counterpart of the USPTO Official Gazette.
Full definition →French: nom de marque
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).
Full definition →French: signe distinctif
Umbrella category of French law covering all business identifiers: trademarks, company names, trade names, shop signs and distinctive domain names.
Full definition →French: caractère distinctif
Core validity requirement for French and EU trademarks: descriptive terms cannot be monopolized, and non-distinctive marks can be invalidated.
Full definition →French: EUIPO (Office de l'Union européenne pour la propriété intellectuelle)
The EU trademark office in Alicante, Spain — formerly OHIM — administering EU trademarks and Community designs, with fully online proceedings.
Full definition →French: opposition EUIPO
Opposition against an EU trademark application: 3-month deadline from publication, €320 fee, cooling-off period, about 12 months to decision.
Full definition →French: marque de l'Union européenne
A single registration covering all EU member states, filed at the EUIPO from €850 — unitary in effect, formerly called the Community trade mark.
Full definition →French: Code de la propriété intellectuelle (CPI)
The French statute governing trademarks (Book 7), copyright and industrial property — the closest French analog to the Lanham Act, in codified form.
Full definition →French: marque française
A trademark filed with the INPI, valid throughout France (except French Polynesia without an extra fee) for renewable 10-year terms from filing.
Full definition →French: usage sérieux
Real commercial use of a mark — not token or internal use — required to defeat a non-use challenge or to enforce a mark older than five years.
Full definition →French: produits et services
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.
Full definition →French: saisie-contrefaçon
A court-authorized seizure that lets a rights holder gather proof of infringement at the infringer's premises — a French evidence tool with no US equivalent.
Full definition →French: INPI (Institut national de la propriété industrielle)
The French national industrial property office — France's USPTO — handling trademarks, designs and patents, plus oppositions and post-grant actions.
Full definition →French: taxes INPI
Official fees payable to the French trademark office: filing €190 (one class, +€40 per extra class), opposition from €400, renewal €290 — no VAT.
Full definition →French: opposition INPI
Opposition against a French trademark application: 2-month deadline from publication, fees from €400, decided by the INPI in roughly 6 to 12 months.
Full definition →French: marque internationale
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.
Full definition →French: PIBD (Propriété Industrielle – Bulletin Documentaire)
The INPI's free industrial property review reporting French case law and legislative developments in trademarks, designs, patents and copyright.
Full definition →French: plagiat
Not a legal concept in French law: only 'contrefaçon' (infringement) is prohibited by the Intellectual Property Code. Plagiarism is a literary notion.
Full definition →French: principe de spécialité
A trademark is protected only for the goods and services it covers; identical marks in unrelated fields must coexist — except for reputed marks.
Full definition →French: recherche d'antériorité
Search to determine whether a sign is available for use and registration in France or the EU — identical search or full similarity search.
Full definition →French: priorité
Paris Convention rule letting a second filing abroad within six months take the legal date of the first filing — with strict French formalities.
Full definition →French: marque de renommée
A registered mark known to a significant part of the public, protected beyond its goods and services against free-riding and dilution — the EU analog to US dilution.
Full definition →French: déchéance pour caractère trompeur
Loss of French trademark rights where the mark misleads the public on nature, quality or geographic origin — compare Section 2(a) deceptive marks.
Full definition →French: déchéance pour dégénérescence
Loss of French trademark rights when a mark becomes the common name for the goods — the French equivalent of genericide (think aspirin or escalator).
Full definition →French: déchéance pour non-usage
Action to cancel a French or EU trademark unused for five years after registration — France's counterpart to US abandonment, with no use declarations.
Full definition →French: ancienneté
An EU-only mechanism letting an EUTM owner carry forward the date of an earlier identical national mark — then drop the national registration without losing its rights.
Full definition →French: signe
The element filed as a trademark — word, logo, color, sound or motion — and the object of comparison in oppositions and infringement cases.
Full definition →French: similarité des produits et services
Key factor in French infringement and opposition analysis: nature, purpose, use, channels, complementarity, public and common commercial source.
Full definition →French: similarité des signes
The three-way comparison of trademarks in French and EU practice: visual, phonetic and conceptual similarity between the signs at issue.
Full definition →French: recherche de similarité
Full trademark search covering similar — not just identical — marks, using visual, phonetic and conceptual criteria to assess availability.
Full definition →French: prescription
French trademark infringement claims are time-barred after five years — a fixed statutory period, unlike the US laches approach under the Lanham Act.
Full definition →French: marque
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.
Full definition →French: contrat de cession de marque
Contract transferring ownership of a French or EU trademark; it must be recorded with the INPI or EUIPO to be enforceable against third parties.
Full definition →French: annulation de marque
Action to strip a French trademark of effect, before the INPI or courts, for non-use, deceptiveness, genericide, prior rights or bad faith.
Full definition →French: classe
One of the 45 Nice Classification categories organizing goods and services in a filing — administrative in nature, but decisive for fees.
Full definition →French: dépôt de marque
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.
Full definition →French: imitation de marque
Use of a sign similar — not identical — to an earlier mark, assessed visually, phonetically and conceptually; actionable if confusion is likely.
Full definition →French: contrefaçon de marque
French 'contrefaçon' covers both counterfeiting (fake goods) and infringement by an identical or similar sign for identical or similar goods.
Full definition →French: droit des marques
The body of rules governing trademarks and distinctive signs — in France, Book 7 of the Intellectual Property Code and the EU trademark regulations.
Full definition →French: opposition de marque
Administrative procedure to block registration of a trademark application — 2 months from publication at the INPI, 3 months at the EUIPO.
Full definition →French: titulaire
The proprietor of a trademark — individual or company, sole or joint; ownership changes must be recorded with the INPI to bind third parties.
Full definition →French: enregistrement de marque
In France, trademark rights are acquired by registration: filing, examination by the INPI or EUIPO, and survival of the opposition period.
Full definition →French: certificat d'enregistrement de marque
The document issued by the INPI or the EUIPO once a trademark application matures to registration — typically within four to five months if unopposed.
Full definition →French: déchéance de marque
Loss of French trademark rights on three grounds: five years of non-use, deceptive use, or the mark becoming generic.
Full definition →French: marque notoire
A mark so widely known it is protected without registration under Article 6bis of the Paris Convention — a doctrine far stronger in France than in the US.
Full definition →French: assignation en contrefaçon de marque
The document that starts a French trademark infringement lawsuit — the French equivalent of a complaint plus service of process.
Full definition →