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If you are counting on entering the PCT national phase in France the way you would in the United States or Germany, stop: France closed its national route years ago. There is no filing you can make at the French patent office straight from an international application. The only way a PCT application reaches France is through the European Patent Office, and the clock you are watching is the 31-month Euro-PCT deadline, not a French one. Get that single point right and the rest of the process is refreshingly predictable. Here is exactly how it works, what it costs, and where applicants trip up.
How the PCT National Phase in France Actually Works
The Patent Cooperation Treaty lets you keep a single international application alive for up to 30 or 31 months before you have to commit to individual countries. For most jurisdictions, that commitment is a national phase filing at the local office. France is different. Because France has closed its national route under the PCT, you cannot enter the PCT national phase in France directly at the INPI. Protection is obtained instead by entering the European regional phase at the European Patent Office and designating France in the resulting European patent.
In practice this means your “French” strategy is really a European one. You enter the Euro-PCT phase, prosecute a single application before the EPO, and once it grants you obtain effect in France, either as a classical European patent taking effect nationally or as a Unitary Patent covering France and the other participating states.
- No direct French national phase: France is reached only via the EPO.
- One deadline that matters: 31 months from the earliest priority date.
- One granted right, then a choice: classical EP validation in France or a Unitary Patent.
Why There Is No French National Route
The PCT allows each contracting state to “close” its national route where a regional patent, such as a European patent, is available and effectively replaces the national one. France, along with several other EPC states including Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Ireland and Monaco, has done exactly that. So an international applicant who wants a patent in France has only one path from the PCT: the European route through the EPO.
This is the single biggest difference between France and countries where the PCT national phase in France is often mistakenly assumed to mirror. The United States, the United Kingdom and Germany all keep their national routes open, so you can enter directly at the USPTO, the UKIPO or the DPMA. If you have handled a PCT national phase in Germany or a PCT national phase in the United Kingdom, do not assume France behaves the same way. It does not.
The upshot is strategic, not just procedural. Choosing France means choosing the EPO, and the EPO decision usually covers a cluster of European markets at once. So the real question is rarely “France or not” in isolation; it is “which European countries, through one EPO prosecution.”
The 31-Month Deadline and How to Hit It
For the European regional phase, the time limit is 31 months from the earliest priority date under Rule 159(1) EPC. That is the date every French plan turns on. Unlike the bare 30-month PCT minimum, the EPO gives you the extra month, but it is not automatic beyond that, so treat 31 months as a hard stop.
Entering the European phase is not a single click. Within the deadline you generally need to complete the prescribed acts, and missing any one of them can cost you the application:
- File a translation of the international application into English, French or German if it is not already in an EPO official language.
- Pay the filing fee and, where the description exceeds 35 pages, the page fees.
- Pay the designation fee, which covers all EPC contracting states including France.
- Pay the search fee, or the supplementary European search fee where the EPO was not the International Searching Authority.
- File the request for examination and pay the examination fee, and pay any claims fees for claims beyond the fifteenth.
- Respond to the written opinion or search report where one is required.
Docket the 31-month date the moment the PCT filing is made, then diary a working reminder well before it. Because the acts stack, leaving the fees to the final week is how avoidable losses happen.
Missed the Deadline? Further Processing at the EPO
A missed 31-month date is not automatically fatal at the EPO, which is one advantage of the European route. If you miss an act on entry, the EPO issues a notification of loss of rights, and you can request further processing to remedy the omission, typically within two months of that notification, by completing the missing act and paying a further processing fee.
The safety net is real but expensive: the further processing fee is calculated as a percentage of the missed fee, so a batch of missed acts adds up quickly. It is a rescue, not a plan. For a broader view of deadlines and remedies when the international phase runs into national timelines, see our guide to the Euro-PCT regional phase entry.
From EP Grant to a Patent That Bites in France
Once the EPO grants, you decide how the right takes effect in France. Under the classical route, a European patent takes effect in France without any translation of the specification, because French is one of the three EPO official languages and France is a party to the London Agreement. There is no separate French validation translation to file; you simply keep the patent in force by paying annual renewal fees to the INPI.
The alternative is the Unitary Patent. Instead of a bundle of national rights, a single Unitary Patent covers France and the other participating states in one instrument, with one renewal fee paid centrally to the EPO. Which is cheaper depends on how many European countries you actually need. For a France-plus-a-few footprint, classical validation can win; for broad European coverage, the Unitary Patent often does. Our guide to validating a European patent in France walks through the mechanics either way.
Costs and the Strategic Choices Along the Way
Budgeting for the PCT national phase in France means budgeting for EPO prosecution, not a cheap national filing. The main line items are the EPO filing, designation, search and examination fees, professional fees for prosecution, and then post-grant renewals. Because a single EPO prosecution can cover many European states, the per-country cost falls the more countries you keep, which is part of why the European route exists.
Two decisions deserve early thought. First, Unitary Patent versus classical validation, driven by your target country count. Second, whether to opt a classical European patent out of the Unified Patent Court, which affects where and how it can later be challenged or enforced. Neither choice is reversible on a whim, so make them deliberately rather than at the grant deadline.
Do not forget the front end either. Applicants who first filed outside France should confirm any foreign filing licence and export control obligations from the country of first filing before relying on the PCT route.
Enforcing the French Patent You End Up With
Entry is only worthwhile if the resulting right can be enforced. A European patent effective in France can be litigated before the specialist Paris court, or, if it has not been opted out, before the Unified Patent Court for pan-European reach. Planning the entry route with enforcement in mind, rather than treating them as separate exercises, is what turns a filing into an asset.
If a dispute is on the horizon, our guide to patent litigation in France explains the forum choices, and our how to file a patent in France guide covers the direct national filing option for inventions that never went through the PCT.
Plan Your French Patent Entry with PerspireIP
From mapping the right European entry route to building the prior art that protects it, PerspireIP helps applicants secure and defend patents in France. Explore our France IP services, including patent invalidation in Paris and infringement analysis in Lyon, and contact our team to plan your route into France.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I enter the PCT national phase in France directly at the INPI?
No. France has closed its national route under the PCT. The only way an international application reaches France is by entering the European regional phase at the EPO and designating France in the European patent.
What is the deadline to enter the European phase for France?
The deadline is 31 months from the earliest priority date under Rule 159(1) EPC. You must complete the prescribed acts, including fees and any translation, by that date.
What happens if I miss the 31-month deadline?
The EPO issues a notification of loss of rights, and you can request further processing, usually within two months, by completing the missing act and paying a further processing fee that is a percentage of the missed fee.
Do I need a French translation to validate the patent in France?
No. France is a London Agreement country and French is an EPO official language, so a granted European patent takes effect in France without a translation of the specification. You only pay renewal fees to the INPI.
Should I choose a Unitary Patent or classical validation for France?
It depends on how many European countries you need. A Unitary Patent covers France and other participating states in one instrument; classical validation can be cheaper for a small number of countries. Model both before deciding.