Trademark Filing in Paris.

A software startup near Station F and a couture house in the 8th arrondissement face the same register but very different risks. The startup fights crowded classes 9 and 42 where near-identical names abound; the couture house guards a famous name against dilution and counterfeiting. A credible clearance search reads the French, EU and international registers together, because a Madrid designation or an EU trade mark can block a French application just as an earlier French mark can. We tailor the search and the specification to the sector, not to a generic checklist.

How PerspireIP handles trademark filing in Paris

Every engagement starts with a clearance read and a route decision, then moves through drafting, filing and prosecution, and finally into renewal, watching and enforcement. We work in French where the proceeding demands it, coordinate French, EU and Madrid filings so they reinforce each other, and keep the class strategy aligned with how the business actually sells.

• Availability searches across the French, EU and international registers, with an honest read on distinctiveness and conflict risk
• Route selection among a French INPI mark, an EU trade mark and a Madrid international registration, sized to your market
• French-language application drafting and prosecution, including responses to INPI examination and opposition
• PACTE-law cancellation strategy — attacking a blocking mark for non-use or bad faith, or defending your own registration
• Customs recordal and enforcement support tied to the Tribunal judiciaire de Paris and French border seizure
• Docketing of every deadline, from the opposition window to ten-year renewals, so nothing lapses

We act as your specialist filing and strategy partner alongside your French counsel, deliver to INPI, EUIPO and WIPO deadlines, and keep every engagement confidential. Whether you are a Paris luxury house layering French and EU rights, a startup clearing a name before launch, or a foreign business entering the French market, a trademark filing Paris process built around the right route and a clean class strategy is the difference between a brand you can enforce and one you merely own. Send us the mark, the goods and your target markets, and we will scope the work within one business day.

IP Landscape & Resources in Paris

Key intellectual-property authorities and venues relevant to Paris:

• Institut national de la propriété industrielle (INPI) — the French national office where trademarks are filed electronically and where PACTE-law invalidity and revocation actions are decided
• European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) — the Alicante office that registers EU trade marks covering all 27 member states in a single right
• WIPO Madrid System — the international registration system that extends a French or EU home mark to selected countries worldwide
• French Customs (la douane) — the border authority that detains and seizes counterfeit goods under a rights holder's Application for Action

Request Trademark Filing in Paris

Explore related PerspireIP services: Trademark Filing · Trademark Docketing · our IP services.

Frequently Asked Questions

Registration is only the foundation; enforcement is where a Paris brand protects its margin. A registered mark, a live customs recordal and a well-scoped watch service work together, so that infringing goods are stopped at the port and a strong file is ready if the matter reaches the Tribunal judiciaire de Paris. We build the registration to make that enforcement chain possible.

Paris industries beyond luxury and the classes they file

Luxury dominates the headlines, but the Île-de-France economy is far broader, and each sector files differently. Greater Paris is a major centre for aerospace and defence, enterprise software and artificial intelligence, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, and cosmetics and beauty science. The Nice class that matters, and the clearance risk, shifts sharply from one sector to the next.

• Luxury, fashion and jewellery: classes for leather goods, apparel, watches and precious metals, with intense policing of look-alikes
• Cosmetics and fragrance: class 3 filings where descriptive and laudatory terms make distinctiveness the central hurdle
• Software and AI: classes 9 and 42, where crowded registers demand careful clearance before launch
• Pharma and life sciences: class 5 marks that must clear both trademark and regulatory naming rules
• Aerospace and industry: classes for machinery and engineering services tied to long product lifecycles

A software startup near Station F and a couture house in the 8th arrondissement face the same register but very different risks. The startup fights crowded classes 9 and 42 where near-identical names abound; the couture house guards a famous name against dilution and counterfeiting. A credible clearance search reads the French, EU and international registers together, because a Madrid designation or an EU trade mark can block a French application just as an earlier French mark can. We tailor the search and the specification to the sector, not to a generic checklist.

How PerspireIP handles trademark filing in Paris

Every engagement starts with a clearance read and a route decision, then moves through drafting, filing and prosecution, and finally into renewal, watching and enforcement. We work in French where the proceeding demands it, coordinate French, EU and Madrid filings so they reinforce each other, and keep the class strategy aligned with how the business actually sells.

• Availability searches across the French, EU and international registers, with an honest read on distinctiveness and conflict risk
• Route selection among a French INPI mark, an EU trade mark and a Madrid international registration, sized to your market
• French-language application drafting and prosecution, including responses to INPI examination and opposition
• PACTE-law cancellation strategy — attacking a blocking mark for non-use or bad faith, or defending your own registration
• Customs recordal and enforcement support tied to the Tribunal judiciaire de Paris and French border seizure
• Docketing of every deadline, from the opposition window to ten-year renewals, so nothing lapses

We act as your specialist filing and strategy partner alongside your French counsel, deliver to INPI, EUIPO and WIPO deadlines, and keep every engagement confidential. Whether you are a Paris luxury house layering French and EU rights, a startup clearing a name before launch, or a foreign business entering the French market, a trademark filing Paris process built around the right route and a clean class strategy is the difference between a brand you can enforce and one you merely own. Send us the mark, the goods and your target markets, and we will scope the work within one business day.

IP Landscape & Resources in Paris

Key intellectual-property authorities and venues relevant to Paris:

• Institut national de la propriété industrielle (INPI) — the French national office where trademarks are filed electronically and where PACTE-law invalidity and revocation actions are decided
• European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) — the Alicante office that registers EU trade marks covering all 27 member states in a single right
• WIPO Madrid System — the international registration system that extends a French or EU home mark to selected countries worldwide
• French Customs (la douane) — the border authority that detains and seizes counterfeit goods under a rights holder's Application for Action

Request Trademark Filing in Paris

Explore related PerspireIP services: Trademark Filing · Trademark Docketing · our IP services.

Frequently Asked Questions

For most Paris brands with European ambitions, the answer is not one route but a combination: an EU trade mark for breadth, a French mark for depth and enforcement leverage, and Madrid extensions for key export markets. We map that layered filing to the brand’s real footprint so that no gap is left for a counterfeiter or a copycat to occupy.

Enforcement: the Tribunal judiciaire de Paris and customs seizure

France concentrates trademark litigation in a small number of specialised courts, and Paris is the principal one. Only ten tribunaux judiciaires have subject-matter jurisdiction over French trademark infringement — Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nanterre, Nancy, Paris, Rennes and Strasbourg in mainland France, plus Fort-de-France — and the Tribunal judiciaire de Paris hears the majority of complex disputes. For EU trade marks, Paris goes further still: it holds exclusive jurisdiction in France over EUTM infringement actions.

The other pillar of French enforcement is customs, and it is uniquely powerful for Paris luxury brands. A rights holder files an Application for Action (demande d’intervention) with the French customs authority (la douane), valid for one year and renewable, asking officers to detain suspected counterfeits at the border. The application is free to file and requires an EORI number. When goods are detained, the rights holder has ten working days — three for perishables — to confirm infringement and request seizure and destruction or start court proceedings.

• Tribunal judiciaire de Paris: France’s leading trademark court and the exclusive French forum for EU trade mark infringement
• Specialised venue map: only ten first-instance courts nationwide may hear French trademark infringement
• Customs recordal: a one-year, renewable Application for Action lets French customs stop counterfeits at the border
• Saisie-contrefaçon: the French infringement-seizure order lets a rights holder gather evidence before suit, a decisive early-stage tool

Registration is only the foundation; enforcement is where a Paris brand protects its margin. A registered mark, a live customs recordal and a well-scoped watch service work together, so that infringing goods are stopped at the port and a strong file is ready if the matter reaches the Tribunal judiciaire de Paris. We build the registration to make that enforcement chain possible.

Paris industries beyond luxury and the classes they file

Luxury dominates the headlines, but the Île-de-France economy is far broader, and each sector files differently. Greater Paris is a major centre for aerospace and defence, enterprise software and artificial intelligence, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, and cosmetics and beauty science. The Nice class that matters, and the clearance risk, shifts sharply from one sector to the next.

• Luxury, fashion and jewellery: classes for leather goods, apparel, watches and precious metals, with intense policing of look-alikes
• Cosmetics and fragrance: class 3 filings where descriptive and laudatory terms make distinctiveness the central hurdle
• Software and AI: classes 9 and 42, where crowded registers demand careful clearance before launch
• Pharma and life sciences: class 5 marks that must clear both trademark and regulatory naming rules
• Aerospace and industry: classes for machinery and engineering services tied to long product lifecycles

A software startup near Station F and a couture house in the 8th arrondissement face the same register but very different risks. The startup fights crowded classes 9 and 42 where near-identical names abound; the couture house guards a famous name against dilution and counterfeiting. A credible clearance search reads the French, EU and international registers together, because a Madrid designation or an EU trade mark can block a French application just as an earlier French mark can. We tailor the search and the specification to the sector, not to a generic checklist.

How PerspireIP handles trademark filing in Paris

Every engagement starts with a clearance read and a route decision, then moves through drafting, filing and prosecution, and finally into renewal, watching and enforcement. We work in French where the proceeding demands it, coordinate French, EU and Madrid filings so they reinforce each other, and keep the class strategy aligned with how the business actually sells.

• Availability searches across the French, EU and international registers, with an honest read on distinctiveness and conflict risk
• Route selection among a French INPI mark, an EU trade mark and a Madrid international registration, sized to your market
• French-language application drafting and prosecution, including responses to INPI examination and opposition
• PACTE-law cancellation strategy — attacking a blocking mark for non-use or bad faith, or defending your own registration
• Customs recordal and enforcement support tied to the Tribunal judiciaire de Paris and French border seizure
• Docketing of every deadline, from the opposition window to ten-year renewals, so nothing lapses

We act as your specialist filing and strategy partner alongside your French counsel, deliver to INPI, EUIPO and WIPO deadlines, and keep every engagement confidential. Whether you are a Paris luxury house layering French and EU rights, a startup clearing a name before launch, or a foreign business entering the French market, a trademark filing Paris process built around the right route and a clean class strategy is the difference between a brand you can enforce and one you merely own. Send us the mark, the goods and your target markets, and we will scope the work within one business day.

IP Landscape & Resources in Paris

Key intellectual-property authorities and venues relevant to Paris:

• Institut national de la propriété industrielle (INPI) — the French national office where trademarks are filed electronically and where PACTE-law invalidity and revocation actions are decided
• European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) — the Alicante office that registers EU trade marks covering all 27 member states in a single right
• WIPO Madrid System — the international registration system that extends a French or EU home mark to selected countries worldwide
• French Customs (la douane) — the border authority that detains and seizes counterfeit goods under a rights holder's Application for Action

Request Trademark Filing in Paris

Explore related PerspireIP services: Trademark Filing · Trademark Docketing · our IP services.

Frequently Asked Questions

This changes clearance strategy. Where an earlier mark stands in the way of a new brand, the question is no longer only “can we co-exist?” but “is that mark actually used, and can we cancel it at the INPI?” We build cancellation and defence around this route, whether you are attacking a blocking registration or defending your own mark against a revocation request.

Should a Paris luxury brand file a French mark or an EU trade mark?

Paris is the world capital of luxury goods, and the calculus for a fashion house, a jeweller or a cosmetics maker is different from that of a purely domestic business. Groups such as LVMH, Kering, Hermès and Chanel manage vast portfolios that pair national French marks with EU trade marks and Madrid registrations, and the layering is deliberate rather than redundant.

An EU trade mark is the efficient backbone for any brand that sells across Europe: one filing, one renewal, protection in 27 states. Its weakness is that it stands or falls as a whole — a single earlier right in any member state can block registration, and genuine use in only part of the EU must still support the mark. A French national mark is narrower geographically but robust: it is examined and enforced under French law, it underpins fast French customs action, and it survives even if an EU-wide right is challenged elsewhere.

• Pan-European reach: the EUTM covers 27 countries in one right and one renewal cycle
• National resilience: a French mark is a separate, independently enforceable right that a Paris house keeps as a fallback
• Customs leverage: a French registration supports a domestic customs application that French border officers act on directly
• Class depth: luxury portfolios routinely span classes for leather goods, apparel, jewellery, fragrance, cosmetics and retail services

For most Paris brands with European ambitions, the answer is not one route but a combination: an EU trade mark for breadth, a French mark for depth and enforcement leverage, and Madrid extensions for key export markets. We map that layered filing to the brand’s real footprint so that no gap is left for a counterfeiter or a copycat to occupy.

Enforcement: the Tribunal judiciaire de Paris and customs seizure

France concentrates trademark litigation in a small number of specialised courts, and Paris is the principal one. Only ten tribunaux judiciaires have subject-matter jurisdiction over French trademark infringement — Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nanterre, Nancy, Paris, Rennes and Strasbourg in mainland France, plus Fort-de-France — and the Tribunal judiciaire de Paris hears the majority of complex disputes. For EU trade marks, Paris goes further still: it holds exclusive jurisdiction in France over EUTM infringement actions.

The other pillar of French enforcement is customs, and it is uniquely powerful for Paris luxury brands. A rights holder files an Application for Action (demande d’intervention) with the French customs authority (la douane), valid for one year and renewable, asking officers to detain suspected counterfeits at the border. The application is free to file and requires an EORI number. When goods are detained, the rights holder has ten working days — three for perishables — to confirm infringement and request seizure and destruction or start court proceedings.

• Tribunal judiciaire de Paris: France’s leading trademark court and the exclusive French forum for EU trade mark infringement
• Specialised venue map: only ten first-instance courts nationwide may hear French trademark infringement
• Customs recordal: a one-year, renewable Application for Action lets French customs stop counterfeits at the border
• Saisie-contrefaçon: the French infringement-seizure order lets a rights holder gather evidence before suit, a decisive early-stage tool

Registration is only the foundation; enforcement is where a Paris brand protects its margin. A registered mark, a live customs recordal and a well-scoped watch service work together, so that infringing goods are stopped at the port and a strong file is ready if the matter reaches the Tribunal judiciaire de Paris. We build the registration to make that enforcement chain possible.

Paris industries beyond luxury and the classes they file

Luxury dominates the headlines, but the Île-de-France economy is far broader, and each sector files differently. Greater Paris is a major centre for aerospace and defence, enterprise software and artificial intelligence, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, and cosmetics and beauty science. The Nice class that matters, and the clearance risk, shifts sharply from one sector to the next.

• Luxury, fashion and jewellery: classes for leather goods, apparel, watches and precious metals, with intense policing of look-alikes
• Cosmetics and fragrance: class 3 filings where descriptive and laudatory terms make distinctiveness the central hurdle
• Software and AI: classes 9 and 42, where crowded registers demand careful clearance before launch
• Pharma and life sciences: class 5 marks that must clear both trademark and regulatory naming rules
• Aerospace and industry: classes for machinery and engineering services tied to long product lifecycles

A software startup near Station F and a couture house in the 8th arrondissement face the same register but very different risks. The startup fights crowded classes 9 and 42 where near-identical names abound; the couture house guards a famous name against dilution and counterfeiting. A credible clearance search reads the French, EU and international registers together, because a Madrid designation or an EU trade mark can block a French application just as an earlier French mark can. We tailor the search and the specification to the sector, not to a generic checklist.

How PerspireIP handles trademark filing in Paris

Every engagement starts with a clearance read and a route decision, then moves through drafting, filing and prosecution, and finally into renewal, watching and enforcement. We work in French where the proceeding demands it, coordinate French, EU and Madrid filings so they reinforce each other, and keep the class strategy aligned with how the business actually sells.

• Availability searches across the French, EU and international registers, with an honest read on distinctiveness and conflict risk
• Route selection among a French INPI mark, an EU trade mark and a Madrid international registration, sized to your market
• French-language application drafting and prosecution, including responses to INPI examination and opposition
• PACTE-law cancellation strategy — attacking a blocking mark for non-use or bad faith, or defending your own registration
• Customs recordal and enforcement support tied to the Tribunal judiciaire de Paris and French border seizure
• Docketing of every deadline, from the opposition window to ten-year renewals, so nothing lapses

We act as your specialist filing and strategy partner alongside your French counsel, deliver to INPI, EUIPO and WIPO deadlines, and keep every engagement confidential. Whether you are a Paris luxury house layering French and EU rights, a startup clearing a name before launch, or a foreign business entering the French market, a trademark filing Paris process built around the right route and a clean class strategy is the difference between a brand you can enforce and one you merely own. Send us the mark, the goods and your target markets, and we will scope the work within one business day.

IP Landscape & Resources in Paris

Key intellectual-property authorities and venues relevant to Paris:

• Institut national de la propriété industrielle (INPI) — the French national office where trademarks are filed electronically and where PACTE-law invalidity and revocation actions are decided
• European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) — the Alicante office that registers EU trade marks covering all 27 member states in a single right
• WIPO Madrid System — the international registration system that extends a French or EU home mark to selected countries worldwide
• French Customs (la douane) — the border authority that detains and seizes counterfeit goods under a rights holder's Application for Action

Request Trademark Filing in Paris

Explore related PerspireIP services: Trademark Filing · Trademark Docketing · our IP services.

Frequently Asked Questions

The class list is where most value is won or lost. A cosmetics maker, a fashion label and a software company that all sit within a few Paris arrondissements will need entirely different Nice classes, and a poorly drafted specification either leaves gaps a competitor can exploit or triggers avoidable opposition. We draft the goods and services to cover the real business and its realistic expansion, not a generic template.

The PACTE law: cancel a conflicting mark at the INPI, not just in court

The most distinctive feature of modern French trademark practice is administrative cancellation. Before 2020, only a court could invalidate or revoke a registered trademark. The PACTE law, transposing the EU Trademark Directive, transferred principal jurisdiction over invalidity and revocation actions to the INPI itself, with effect from 1 April 2020. A brand owner in Paris can now clear an obstructive registration through a streamlined office procedure rather than a full civil suit.

• Revocation (déchéance): available where a mark has not been genuinely used for five years, has become the generic name for its product, or has become deceptive
• Invalidity on absolute grounds: lack of distinctiveness, descriptiveness or bad faith at filing
• Invalidity on relative grounds: conflict with an earlier trademark, company name or other prior right
• Official fee: €600 to file, with €150 per additional prior right for a relative-ground invalidity action

The procedure is entirely electronic and adversarial, with written exchanges and an optional oral phase, and it delivers a decision far faster and more cheaply than litigation — typically within six to ten months, with the INPI reporting an average of about eight months to a decision on the merits. Non-use revocation is especially powerful in a crowded register: a Paris business blocked by a dormant mark can force its removal without proving damage, simply by putting the owner to proof of genuine use.

This changes clearance strategy. Where an earlier mark stands in the way of a new brand, the question is no longer only “can we co-exist?” but “is that mark actually used, and can we cancel it at the INPI?” We build cancellation and defence around this route, whether you are attacking a blocking registration or defending your own mark against a revocation request.

Should a Paris luxury brand file a French mark or an EU trade mark?

Paris is the world capital of luxury goods, and the calculus for a fashion house, a jeweller or a cosmetics maker is different from that of a purely domestic business. Groups such as LVMH, Kering, Hermès and Chanel manage vast portfolios that pair national French marks with EU trade marks and Madrid registrations, and the layering is deliberate rather than redundant.

An EU trade mark is the efficient backbone for any brand that sells across Europe: one filing, one renewal, protection in 27 states. Its weakness is that it stands or falls as a whole — a single earlier right in any member state can block registration, and genuine use in only part of the EU must still support the mark. A French national mark is narrower geographically but robust: it is examined and enforced under French law, it underpins fast French customs action, and it survives even if an EU-wide right is challenged elsewhere.

• Pan-European reach: the EUTM covers 27 countries in one right and one renewal cycle
• National resilience: a French mark is a separate, independently enforceable right that a Paris house keeps as a fallback
• Customs leverage: a French registration supports a domestic customs application that French border officers act on directly
• Class depth: luxury portfolios routinely span classes for leather goods, apparel, jewellery, fragrance, cosmetics and retail services

For most Paris brands with European ambitions, the answer is not one route but a combination: an EU trade mark for breadth, a French mark for depth and enforcement leverage, and Madrid extensions for key export markets. We map that layered filing to the brand’s real footprint so that no gap is left for a counterfeiter or a copycat to occupy.

Enforcement: the Tribunal judiciaire de Paris and customs seizure

France concentrates trademark litigation in a small number of specialised courts, and Paris is the principal one. Only ten tribunaux judiciaires have subject-matter jurisdiction over French trademark infringement — Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nanterre, Nancy, Paris, Rennes and Strasbourg in mainland France, plus Fort-de-France — and the Tribunal judiciaire de Paris hears the majority of complex disputes. For EU trade marks, Paris goes further still: it holds exclusive jurisdiction in France over EUTM infringement actions.

The other pillar of French enforcement is customs, and it is uniquely powerful for Paris luxury brands. A rights holder files an Application for Action (demande d’intervention) with the French customs authority (la douane), valid for one year and renewable, asking officers to detain suspected counterfeits at the border. The application is free to file and requires an EORI number. When goods are detained, the rights holder has ten working days — three for perishables — to confirm infringement and request seizure and destruction or start court proceedings.

• Tribunal judiciaire de Paris: France’s leading trademark court and the exclusive French forum for EU trade mark infringement
• Specialised venue map: only ten first-instance courts nationwide may hear French trademark infringement
• Customs recordal: a one-year, renewable Application for Action lets French customs stop counterfeits at the border
• Saisie-contrefaçon: the French infringement-seizure order lets a rights holder gather evidence before suit, a decisive early-stage tool

Registration is only the foundation; enforcement is where a Paris brand protects its margin. A registered mark, a live customs recordal and a well-scoped watch service work together, so that infringing goods are stopped at the port and a strong file is ready if the matter reaches the Tribunal judiciaire de Paris. We build the registration to make that enforcement chain possible.

Paris industries beyond luxury and the classes they file

Luxury dominates the headlines, but the Île-de-France economy is far broader, and each sector files differently. Greater Paris is a major centre for aerospace and defence, enterprise software and artificial intelligence, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, and cosmetics and beauty science. The Nice class that matters, and the clearance risk, shifts sharply from one sector to the next.

• Luxury, fashion and jewellery: classes for leather goods, apparel, watches and precious metals, with intense policing of look-alikes
• Cosmetics and fragrance: class 3 filings where descriptive and laudatory terms make distinctiveness the central hurdle
• Software and AI: classes 9 and 42, where crowded registers demand careful clearance before launch
• Pharma and life sciences: class 5 marks that must clear both trademark and regulatory naming rules
• Aerospace and industry: classes for machinery and engineering services tied to long product lifecycles

A software startup near Station F and a couture house in the 8th arrondissement face the same register but very different risks. The startup fights crowded classes 9 and 42 where near-identical names abound; the couture house guards a famous name against dilution and counterfeiting. A credible clearance search reads the French, EU and international registers together, because a Madrid designation or an EU trade mark can block a French application just as an earlier French mark can. We tailor the search and the specification to the sector, not to a generic checklist.

How PerspireIP handles trademark filing in Paris

Every engagement starts with a clearance read and a route decision, then moves through drafting, filing and prosecution, and finally into renewal, watching and enforcement. We work in French where the proceeding demands it, coordinate French, EU and Madrid filings so they reinforce each other, and keep the class strategy aligned with how the business actually sells.

• Availability searches across the French, EU and international registers, with an honest read on distinctiveness and conflict risk
• Route selection among a French INPI mark, an EU trade mark and a Madrid international registration, sized to your market
• French-language application drafting and prosecution, including responses to INPI examination and opposition
• PACTE-law cancellation strategy — attacking a blocking mark for non-use or bad faith, or defending your own registration
• Customs recordal and enforcement support tied to the Tribunal judiciaire de Paris and French border seizure
• Docketing of every deadline, from the opposition window to ten-year renewals, so nothing lapses

We act as your specialist filing and strategy partner alongside your French counsel, deliver to INPI, EUIPO and WIPO deadlines, and keep every engagement confidential. Whether you are a Paris luxury house layering French and EU rights, a startup clearing a name before launch, or a foreign business entering the French market, a trademark filing Paris process built around the right route and a clean class strategy is the difference between a brand you can enforce and one you merely own. Send us the mark, the goods and your target markets, and we will scope the work within one business day.

IP Landscape & Resources in Paris

Key intellectual-property authorities and venues relevant to Paris:

• Institut national de la propriété industrielle (INPI) — the French national office where trademarks are filed electronically and where PACTE-law invalidity and revocation actions are decided
• European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) — the Alicante office that registers EU trade marks covering all 27 member states in a single right
• WIPO Madrid System — the international registration system that extends a French or EU home mark to selected countries worldwide
• French Customs (la douane) — the border authority that detains and seizes counterfeit goods under a rights holder's Application for Action

Request Trademark Filing in Paris

Explore related PerspireIP services: Trademark Filing · Trademark Docketing · our IP services.

Frequently Asked Questions

The French national route is the natural starting point for a business whose market is domestic, or for a luxury house that wants a granular French right it can enforce quickly at the border. The EU trade mark is more efficient per country once a brand crosses even one national frontier, but a single earlier right anywhere in the EU can block or cancel it. The Madrid route builds on either home mark and is remarkably cost-effective for a multi-country portfolio. Getting trademark filing Paris strategy right means matching the route to the commercial map, not defaulting to the cheapest form.

Filing a French trademark at the INPI

The INPI is the French national office, and e-filing on its online portal is mandatory — paper applications are no longer accepted. The application is filed in French and must identify the applicant, a clear representation of the mark and the goods and services organised under the Nice Classification. Fees are set by a published schedule and are due at filing.

• Electronic filing: €190 covering one class of goods or services
• Additional classes: €40 for each class beyond the first
• Language: the application, the list of goods and services and the proceedings are conducted in French
• Term: a French registration lasts ten years and is renewable indefinitely for further ten-year periods

Once filed, the INPI publishes the application in the Bulletin officiel de la propriété industrielle, opening a two-month window in which owners of earlier rights may file an opposition. The office examines the mark on absolute grounds — distinctiveness, descriptiveness and public order — but does not refuse a mark on the basis of earlier private rights; policing those is left to third parties through opposition or later cancellation. Where no opposition or objection arises, registration typically issues within about five months of filing.

The class list is where most value is won or lost. A cosmetics maker, a fashion label and a software company that all sit within a few Paris arrondissements will need entirely different Nice classes, and a poorly drafted specification either leaves gaps a competitor can exploit or triggers avoidable opposition. We draft the goods and services to cover the real business and its realistic expansion, not a generic template.

The PACTE law: cancel a conflicting mark at the INPI, not just in court

The most distinctive feature of modern French trademark practice is administrative cancellation. Before 2020, only a court could invalidate or revoke a registered trademark. The PACTE law, transposing the EU Trademark Directive, transferred principal jurisdiction over invalidity and revocation actions to the INPI itself, with effect from 1 April 2020. A brand owner in Paris can now clear an obstructive registration through a streamlined office procedure rather than a full civil suit.

• Revocation (déchéance): available where a mark has not been genuinely used for five years, has become the generic name for its product, or has become deceptive
• Invalidity on absolute grounds: lack of distinctiveness, descriptiveness or bad faith at filing
• Invalidity on relative grounds: conflict with an earlier trademark, company name or other prior right
• Official fee: €600 to file, with €150 per additional prior right for a relative-ground invalidity action

The procedure is entirely electronic and adversarial, with written exchanges and an optional oral phase, and it delivers a decision far faster and more cheaply than litigation — typically within six to ten months, with the INPI reporting an average of about eight months to a decision on the merits. Non-use revocation is especially powerful in a crowded register: a Paris business blocked by a dormant mark can force its removal without proving damage, simply by putting the owner to proof of genuine use.

This changes clearance strategy. Where an earlier mark stands in the way of a new brand, the question is no longer only “can we co-exist?” but “is that mark actually used, and can we cancel it at the INPI?” We build cancellation and defence around this route, whether you are attacking a blocking registration or defending your own mark against a revocation request.

Should a Paris luxury brand file a French mark or an EU trade mark?

Paris is the world capital of luxury goods, and the calculus for a fashion house, a jeweller or a cosmetics maker is different from that of a purely domestic business. Groups such as LVMH, Kering, Hermès and Chanel manage vast portfolios that pair national French marks with EU trade marks and Madrid registrations, and the layering is deliberate rather than redundant.

An EU trade mark is the efficient backbone for any brand that sells across Europe: one filing, one renewal, protection in 27 states. Its weakness is that it stands or falls as a whole — a single earlier right in any member state can block registration, and genuine use in only part of the EU must still support the mark. A French national mark is narrower geographically but robust: it is examined and enforced under French law, it underpins fast French customs action, and it survives even if an EU-wide right is challenged elsewhere.

• Pan-European reach: the EUTM covers 27 countries in one right and one renewal cycle
• National resilience: a French mark is a separate, independently enforceable right that a Paris house keeps as a fallback
• Customs leverage: a French registration supports a domestic customs application that French border officers act on directly
• Class depth: luxury portfolios routinely span classes for leather goods, apparel, jewellery, fragrance, cosmetics and retail services

For most Paris brands with European ambitions, the answer is not one route but a combination: an EU trade mark for breadth, a French mark for depth and enforcement leverage, and Madrid extensions for key export markets. We map that layered filing to the brand’s real footprint so that no gap is left for a counterfeiter or a copycat to occupy.

Enforcement: the Tribunal judiciaire de Paris and customs seizure

France concentrates trademark litigation in a small number of specialised courts, and Paris is the principal one. Only ten tribunaux judiciaires have subject-matter jurisdiction over French trademark infringement — Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nanterre, Nancy, Paris, Rennes and Strasbourg in mainland France, plus Fort-de-France — and the Tribunal judiciaire de Paris hears the majority of complex disputes. For EU trade marks, Paris goes further still: it holds exclusive jurisdiction in France over EUTM infringement actions.

The other pillar of French enforcement is customs, and it is uniquely powerful for Paris luxury brands. A rights holder files an Application for Action (demande d’intervention) with the French customs authority (la douane), valid for one year and renewable, asking officers to detain suspected counterfeits at the border. The application is free to file and requires an EORI number. When goods are detained, the rights holder has ten working days — three for perishables — to confirm infringement and request seizure and destruction or start court proceedings.

• Tribunal judiciaire de Paris: France’s leading trademark court and the exclusive French forum for EU trade mark infringement
• Specialised venue map: only ten first-instance courts nationwide may hear French trademark infringement
• Customs recordal: a one-year, renewable Application for Action lets French customs stop counterfeits at the border
• Saisie-contrefaçon: the French infringement-seizure order lets a rights holder gather evidence before suit, a decisive early-stage tool

Registration is only the foundation; enforcement is where a Paris brand protects its margin. A registered mark, a live customs recordal and a well-scoped watch service work together, so that infringing goods are stopped at the port and a strong file is ready if the matter reaches the Tribunal judiciaire de Paris. We build the registration to make that enforcement chain possible.

Paris industries beyond luxury and the classes they file

Luxury dominates the headlines, but the Île-de-France economy is far broader, and each sector files differently. Greater Paris is a major centre for aerospace and defence, enterprise software and artificial intelligence, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, and cosmetics and beauty science. The Nice class that matters, and the clearance risk, shifts sharply from one sector to the next.

• Luxury, fashion and jewellery: classes for leather goods, apparel, watches and precious metals, with intense policing of look-alikes
• Cosmetics and fragrance: class 3 filings where descriptive and laudatory terms make distinctiveness the central hurdle
• Software and AI: classes 9 and 42, where crowded registers demand careful clearance before launch
• Pharma and life sciences: class 5 marks that must clear both trademark and regulatory naming rules
• Aerospace and industry: classes for machinery and engineering services tied to long product lifecycles

A software startup near Station F and a couture house in the 8th arrondissement face the same register but very different risks. The startup fights crowded classes 9 and 42 where near-identical names abound; the couture house guards a famous name against dilution and counterfeiting. A credible clearance search reads the French, EU and international registers together, because a Madrid designation or an EU trade mark can block a French application just as an earlier French mark can. We tailor the search and the specification to the sector, not to a generic checklist.

How PerspireIP handles trademark filing in Paris

Every engagement starts with a clearance read and a route decision, then moves through drafting, filing and prosecution, and finally into renewal, watching and enforcement. We work in French where the proceeding demands it, coordinate French, EU and Madrid filings so they reinforce each other, and keep the class strategy aligned with how the business actually sells.

• Availability searches across the French, EU and international registers, with an honest read on distinctiveness and conflict risk
• Route selection among a French INPI mark, an EU trade mark and a Madrid international registration, sized to your market
• French-language application drafting and prosecution, including responses to INPI examination and opposition
• PACTE-law cancellation strategy — attacking a blocking mark for non-use or bad faith, or defending your own registration
• Customs recordal and enforcement support tied to the Tribunal judiciaire de Paris and French border seizure
• Docketing of every deadline, from the opposition window to ten-year renewals, so nothing lapses

We act as your specialist filing and strategy partner alongside your French counsel, deliver to INPI, EUIPO and WIPO deadlines, and keep every engagement confidential. Whether you are a Paris luxury house layering French and EU rights, a startup clearing a name before launch, or a foreign business entering the French market, a trademark filing Paris process built around the right route and a clean class strategy is the difference between a brand you can enforce and one you merely own. Send us the mark, the goods and your target markets, and we will scope the work within one business day.

IP Landscape & Resources in Paris

Key intellectual-property authorities and venues relevant to Paris:

• Institut national de la propriété industrielle (INPI) — the French national office where trademarks are filed electronically and where PACTE-law invalidity and revocation actions are decided
• European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) — the Alicante office that registers EU trade marks covering all 27 member states in a single right
• WIPO Madrid System — the international registration system that extends a French or EU home mark to selected countries worldwide
• French Customs (la douane) — the border authority that detains and seizes counterfeit goods under a rights holder's Application for Action

Request Trademark Filing in Paris

Explore related PerspireIP services: Trademark Filing · Trademark Docketing · our IP services.

Frequently Asked Questions

A trademark filing Paris brands rely on begins with a single strategic choice: whether to register a French national mark at the Institut national de la propriété industrielle (INPI), an EU trade mark that covers all 27 member states in one right, or an international registration under the Madrid Protocol administered by WIPO. Paris is the commercial heart of France and the global capital of luxury, fashion and cosmetics, home to LVMH, Kering, Hermès and Chanel, so the name a business protects here is often its single most valuable asset.

Since the PACTE law reform took effect on 1 April 2020, France has also become one of the most modern trademark jurisdictions in Europe: a conflicting mark can now be cancelled directly at the INPI in an administrative action, instead of only through the courts. PerspireIP files, clears and defends marks across all three routes, coordinates French-language applications, and builds the class strategy a Paris business needs to hold its brand across France, the European Union and abroad.

Trademark filing Paris brands rely on: three routes to protection

A business in Paris does not file into a single system. It chooses among three overlapping routes, and the right choice depends on where the brand sells today and where it will sell tomorrow. Each route creates an enforceable right, but the geographic reach, the cost and the vulnerability to attack differ, so the decision is made before a single form is submitted.

• French national mark (INPI) — filed electronically with the Institut national de la propriété industrielle, in French, protecting the mark across French territory for ten renewable years
• EU trade mark (EUTM) — filed with the EUIPO in Alicante, a single right covering all 27 member states, ideal for a brand already selling beyond France
• International registration (Madrid Protocol) — filed through WIPO on the basis of a French or EU home mark, extending protection to selected countries worldwide in one application

The French national route is the natural starting point for a business whose market is domestic, or for a luxury house that wants a granular French right it can enforce quickly at the border. The EU trade mark is more efficient per country once a brand crosses even one national frontier, but a single earlier right anywhere in the EU can block or cancel it. The Madrid route builds on either home mark and is remarkably cost-effective for a multi-country portfolio. Getting trademark filing Paris strategy right means matching the route to the commercial map, not defaulting to the cheapest form.

Filing a French trademark at the INPI

The INPI is the French national office, and e-filing on its online portal is mandatory — paper applications are no longer accepted. The application is filed in French and must identify the applicant, a clear representation of the mark and the goods and services organised under the Nice Classification. Fees are set by a published schedule and are due at filing.

• Electronic filing: €190 covering one class of goods or services
• Additional classes: €40 for each class beyond the first
• Language: the application, the list of goods and services and the proceedings are conducted in French
• Term: a French registration lasts ten years and is renewable indefinitely for further ten-year periods

Once filed, the INPI publishes the application in the Bulletin officiel de la propriété industrielle, opening a two-month window in which owners of earlier rights may file an opposition. The office examines the mark on absolute grounds — distinctiveness, descriptiveness and public order — but does not refuse a mark on the basis of earlier private rights; policing those is left to third parties through opposition or later cancellation. Where no opposition or objection arises, registration typically issues within about five months of filing.

The class list is where most value is won or lost. A cosmetics maker, a fashion label and a software company that all sit within a few Paris arrondissements will need entirely different Nice classes, and a poorly drafted specification either leaves gaps a competitor can exploit or triggers avoidable opposition. We draft the goods and services to cover the real business and its realistic expansion, not a generic template.

The PACTE law: cancel a conflicting mark at the INPI, not just in court

The most distinctive feature of modern French trademark practice is administrative cancellation. Before 2020, only a court could invalidate or revoke a registered trademark. The PACTE law, transposing the EU Trademark Directive, transferred principal jurisdiction over invalidity and revocation actions to the INPI itself, with effect from 1 April 2020. A brand owner in Paris can now clear an obstructive registration through a streamlined office procedure rather than a full civil suit.

• Revocation (déchéance): available where a mark has not been genuinely used for five years, has become the generic name for its product, or has become deceptive
• Invalidity on absolute grounds: lack of distinctiveness, descriptiveness or bad faith at filing
• Invalidity on relative grounds: conflict with an earlier trademark, company name or other prior right
• Official fee: €600 to file, with €150 per additional prior right for a relative-ground invalidity action

The procedure is entirely electronic and adversarial, with written exchanges and an optional oral phase, and it delivers a decision far faster and more cheaply than litigation — typically within six to ten months, with the INPI reporting an average of about eight months to a decision on the merits. Non-use revocation is especially powerful in a crowded register: a Paris business blocked by a dormant mark can force its removal without proving damage, simply by putting the owner to proof of genuine use.

This changes clearance strategy. Where an earlier mark stands in the way of a new brand, the question is no longer only “can we co-exist?” but “is that mark actually used, and can we cancel it at the INPI?” We build cancellation and defence around this route, whether you are attacking a blocking registration or defending your own mark against a revocation request.

Should a Paris luxury brand file a French mark or an EU trade mark?

Paris is the world capital of luxury goods, and the calculus for a fashion house, a jeweller or a cosmetics maker is different from that of a purely domestic business. Groups such as LVMH, Kering, Hermès and Chanel manage vast portfolios that pair national French marks with EU trade marks and Madrid registrations, and the layering is deliberate rather than redundant.

An EU trade mark is the efficient backbone for any brand that sells across Europe: one filing, one renewal, protection in 27 states. Its weakness is that it stands or falls as a whole — a single earlier right in any member state can block registration, and genuine use in only part of the EU must still support the mark. A French national mark is narrower geographically but robust: it is examined and enforced under French law, it underpins fast French customs action, and it survives even if an EU-wide right is challenged elsewhere.

• Pan-European reach: the EUTM covers 27 countries in one right and one renewal cycle
• National resilience: a French mark is a separate, independently enforceable right that a Paris house keeps as a fallback
• Customs leverage: a French registration supports a domestic customs application that French border officers act on directly
• Class depth: luxury portfolios routinely span classes for leather goods, apparel, jewellery, fragrance, cosmetics and retail services

For most Paris brands with European ambitions, the answer is not one route but a combination: an EU trade mark for breadth, a French mark for depth and enforcement leverage, and Madrid extensions for key export markets. We map that layered filing to the brand’s real footprint so that no gap is left for a counterfeiter or a copycat to occupy.

Enforcement: the Tribunal judiciaire de Paris and customs seizure

France concentrates trademark litigation in a small number of specialised courts, and Paris is the principal one. Only ten tribunaux judiciaires have subject-matter jurisdiction over French trademark infringement — Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nanterre, Nancy, Paris, Rennes and Strasbourg in mainland France, plus Fort-de-France — and the Tribunal judiciaire de Paris hears the majority of complex disputes. For EU trade marks, Paris goes further still: it holds exclusive jurisdiction in France over EUTM infringement actions.

The other pillar of French enforcement is customs, and it is uniquely powerful for Paris luxury brands. A rights holder files an Application for Action (demande d’intervention) with the French customs authority (la douane), valid for one year and renewable, asking officers to detain suspected counterfeits at the border. The application is free to file and requires an EORI number. When goods are detained, the rights holder has ten working days — three for perishables — to confirm infringement and request seizure and destruction or start court proceedings.

• Tribunal judiciaire de Paris: France’s leading trademark court and the exclusive French forum for EU trade mark infringement
• Specialised venue map: only ten first-instance courts nationwide may hear French trademark infringement
• Customs recordal: a one-year, renewable Application for Action lets French customs stop counterfeits at the border
• Saisie-contrefaçon: the French infringement-seizure order lets a rights holder gather evidence before suit, a decisive early-stage tool

Registration is only the foundation; enforcement is where a Paris brand protects its margin. A registered mark, a live customs recordal and a well-scoped watch service work together, so that infringing goods are stopped at the port and a strong file is ready if the matter reaches the Tribunal judiciaire de Paris. We build the registration to make that enforcement chain possible.

Paris industries beyond luxury and the classes they file

Luxury dominates the headlines, but the Île-de-France economy is far broader, and each sector files differently. Greater Paris is a major centre for aerospace and defence, enterprise software and artificial intelligence, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, and cosmetics and beauty science. The Nice class that matters, and the clearance risk, shifts sharply from one sector to the next.

• Luxury, fashion and jewellery: classes for leather goods, apparel, watches and precious metals, with intense policing of look-alikes
• Cosmetics and fragrance: class 3 filings where descriptive and laudatory terms make distinctiveness the central hurdle
• Software and AI: classes 9 and 42, where crowded registers demand careful clearance before launch
• Pharma and life sciences: class 5 marks that must clear both trademark and regulatory naming rules
• Aerospace and industry: classes for machinery and engineering services tied to long product lifecycles

A software startup near Station F and a couture house in the 8th arrondissement face the same register but very different risks. The startup fights crowded classes 9 and 42 where near-identical names abound; the couture house guards a famous name against dilution and counterfeiting. A credible clearance search reads the French, EU and international registers together, because a Madrid designation or an EU trade mark can block a French application just as an earlier French mark can. We tailor the search and the specification to the sector, not to a generic checklist.

How PerspireIP handles trademark filing in Paris

Every engagement starts with a clearance read and a route decision, then moves through drafting, filing and prosecution, and finally into renewal, watching and enforcement. We work in French where the proceeding demands it, coordinate French, EU and Madrid filings so they reinforce each other, and keep the class strategy aligned with how the business actually sells.

• Availability searches across the French, EU and international registers, with an honest read on distinctiveness and conflict risk
• Route selection among a French INPI mark, an EU trade mark and a Madrid international registration, sized to your market
• French-language application drafting and prosecution, including responses to INPI examination and opposition
• PACTE-law cancellation strategy — attacking a blocking mark for non-use or bad faith, or defending your own registration
• Customs recordal and enforcement support tied to the Tribunal judiciaire de Paris and French border seizure
• Docketing of every deadline, from the opposition window to ten-year renewals, so nothing lapses

We act as your specialist filing and strategy partner alongside your French counsel, deliver to INPI, EUIPO and WIPO deadlines, and keep every engagement confidential. Whether you are a Paris luxury house layering French and EU rights, a startup clearing a name before launch, or a foreign business entering the French market, a trademark filing Paris process built around the right route and a clean class strategy is the difference between a brand you can enforce and one you merely own. Send us the mark, the goods and your target markets, and we will scope the work within one business day.

IP Landscape & Resources in Paris

Key intellectual-property authorities and venues relevant to Paris:

• Institut national de la propriété industrielle (INPI) — the French national office where trademarks are filed electronically and where PACTE-law invalidity and revocation actions are decided
• European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) — the Alicante office that registers EU trade marks covering all 27 member states in a single right
• WIPO Madrid System — the international registration system that extends a French or EU home mark to selected countries worldwide
• French Customs (la douane) — the border authority that detains and seizes counterfeit goods under a rights holder's Application for Action

Request Trademark Filing in Paris

Explore related PerspireIP services: Trademark Filing · Trademark Docketing · our IP services.

Frequently Asked Questions