Registering your brand in France costs $399 per class in professional fees with us, plus the government filing fee charged by Institut national de la propriété industrielle. We handle the whole filing — clearance, classes, the application itself and any examiner objection — and we confirm the exact government fee in writing before anything is filed.
What it costs to file a trademark in France
Two fees apply, and it matters which is which. Ours is fixed. The government’s is not ours to set and we never mark it up.
- Our professional fee — $399 per class. Flat, quoted upfront, covering clearance, class and goods drafting, filing and prosecution.
- INPI official fee — about €190 for one class plus roughly €40 for each additional class. Paid to the office, passed through at cost.
Official fees are approximate and current as at September 2026; every register reviews them periodically, so we reconfirm the figure at the point of filing rather than asking you to rely on a number published on a web page.
What is different about filing in France
Like Germany and unlike the US, INPI examines only absolute grounds — an earlier similar French mark will not stop your application unless its owner opposes. France also runs one of the shorter opposition windows in Europe at two months, so monitoring matters if you want to catch conflicts against your own brand in time.
How the French filing process runs
- Clearance. We check the French register for earlier marks that would block or narrow yours, before you spend a filing fee.
- Classes and specification. Goods and services drafted to the Nice classification — too narrow and you leave gaps, too broad and you invite refusal.
- Filing. Filed as a national trademark at INPI.
- Examination. Absolute grounds only — we respond to any objection as part of the fee.
- Opposition. 2 months from publication. We monitor the window and advise if anything is filed.
Use requirement at filing: no. You can register in France without having used the mark yet, though long-term non-use will eventually expose the registration to cancellation.
Keeping a French registration alive
Renewable every 10 years.
Madrid Protocol or a direct French filing?
France has been a Madrid Protocol member since 1995, so the mark can also be reached by designating it from an existing home registration instead of filing directly.
Which is cheaper depends entirely on how many countries you need. For one or two territories, direct national filings usually win. Past roughly three, a single Madrid application generally costs less and is far easier to renew, because everything moves on one date instead of several. We cost both routes before you commit.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to register a trademark in France?
Our professional fee is $399 per class. INPI charges about €190 for one class plus roughly €40 for each additional class on top, which we pass through at cost. For a single-class filing that is the whole cost; additional classes are charged per class by both us and the office.
How long does French trademark registration take?
Absolute grounds only, and the opposition period runs for 2 months from publication. Where no objection and no opposition arise, registration follows on from there; an examiner objection or an opposition extends the timeline materially. We give you a current estimate at filing rather than a generic one.
Do I need to be based in France to file?
No. Foreign applicants can register in France. What you may need is a local address for service, which we provide as part of the filing, so being outside France is not an obstacle.
Is a clearance search really necessary?
Filing fees are not refundable. A refusal based on an earlier confusingly similar mark costs you the fee and the months spent waiting for it. If you would rather test the ground first, our standalone trademark clearance search starts at $120 and the findings feed straight into the filing.
File your French trademark from $399
Send us the mark and the goods or services it covers using the form below. We reply within one business day with the class recommendation, the exact INPI fee and the total before anything is filed.