Trademarks
File, manage and defend your trademark in France and Europe.
Your trademark is often your most visible asset. Protecting it means filing at the right level, checking it is available, then watching and defending it over time. Clients come to us both ahead of a launch, to file properly, and urgently when a third party gets too close. We support you at every stage, from filing to litigation.
Filing in France, the EU, or both
A French trademark, filed at the INPI, protects your sign in France. An EU trademark, filed at the EUIPO, protects it across the 27 member states in a single right. The right choice depends on your current market and your growth plans: we steer you toward the most economical and most robust strategy.
Clearing availability before you file
Before any filing, a clearance search checks that no close sign already exists. The INPI does not refuse a filing on that ground — it is for the owner of an earlier right to oppose. This step avoids a refusal, an opposition or, after launch, an infringement action.
How a filing works, step by step
The process always follows the same steps. First we define the sign and the list of goods and services — the choice of classes. Ideally we run a clearance search. We then file the application, which the office examines and publishes. An opposition window then opens during which an earlier-right holder can react — two months in France, three at the EUIPO. Absent opposition, the trademark registers.
In practice, allow a few months for a straightforward file, longer if the office raises an objection or an opposition is filed.
What a trademark does — and does not — protect
A trademark protects a sign (a name, logo, shape…) for specified goods and services; the choice of classes is therefore decisive. It protects neither an idea, nor a concept, nor a function. A descriptive or non-distinctive sign cannot be validly registered.
Renewing, watching, defending
A trademark lasts ten years, renewable indefinitely. But you must use it — without genuine use for five years it can be revoked — and watch it, to react quickly if a third party files or uses a close sign. We set up watching and step in if your right is infringed.
What to prepare, and the pitfalls to avoid
To move quickly, prepare the sign in its final form (the logo in a suitable format if needed), a precise list of what you sell or plan to sell, and the exact identity of the owner — you, or your company. The most common mistakes: choosing a descriptive name that protects nothing, forgetting classes you will soon use, filing in the wrong name, or launching the trademark before filing and finding it is unavailable.