Industrial Property Law

Civil actions and claims relating to patents, including those involving employee inventions or a related unfair competition issue, fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Judicial Court of Paris (Art. L. 615-17, D. 631-2 and D. 211-6 IP Code) , with the exception of appeals against administrative acts of the Minister for Industrial Property, which fall within the competence of the administra …

Sole jurisdiction

Civil actions and claims relating to patents, including those involving employee inventions or a related unfair competition issue, fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Judicial Court of Paris (Art. L. 615-17, D. 631-2 and D. 211-6 IP Code) , with the exception of appeals against administrative acts of the Minister for Industrial Property, which fall within the competence of the administrative courts (Art. L. 615-17 IP Code) . The exclusive jurisdiction of the Judicial Court in Paris in patent infringement cases does not preclude recourse to arbitration under the conditions laid down in Articles 2059 and 2060 of the Civil Code (Art. L. 615-17, para. 2, IP Code).

Prior to the Decree of 9 October 2009 , national jurisdiction in patent infringement cases was shared between ten tribunaux de grande instance (district high courts). For cases commenced before 1 November 2009, the relevant tribunal de grande instance continues to have jurisdiction. Appeals against these judgments are heard by the court within whose jurisdiction they fall . Thus, the Paris Court of Appeal has no jurisdiction to hear appeals against patent judgments handed down by provincial courts seized before the decree came into force .

The Paris court has sole jurisdiction over civil actions and claims involving the specific rules of patent law . This applies to litigation concerning the authorship of an invention or its novelty, even in the case of a dispute involving an employee's invention , as well as to contractual obligations and possible breaches by the parties to a cooperation agreement, insofar as these depend on the validity or enforceability of the parties' patent rights, and on the validity of the patent  or its transfer .

On the other hand, the Judicial Court in Paris does not have sole jurisdiction over cases that are not distinct from infringement, where no intellectual property claim has been made. In such cases, the court with material jurisdiction depends on the legal basis of the action initiated by the plaintiff . The President of the Commercial Court thus has jurisdiction to hear a dispute based exclusively on the claim of unfair competition sanctioned by Article 1240 of the Civil Code . Sole jurisdiction is also excluded when the case involves facts other than IP infringement, and does not involve any examination of the existence or non-existence of a patent right. This is the case for disputes based on ordinary civil law, including those relating to the enforcement of clauses in a license or sublicense agreement which do not involve patent law , or based on the breach of a confidentiality undertaking relating solely to know-how associated with a patent .

Cass. com. 16 February 2016, LawLex201600000372JBJ; CA Paris, 17 October 2017, LawLex202300005551JBJ.

Cass. soc. 18 February 1988, LawLex202200003951JBJ.

Cass. com. 16 February 2016, LawLex201600000369JBJ.

CA Paris, 17 October 2017, LawLex202300005551JBJ.

Cass. com. 7 June 2011, LawLex201100001029JBJ, which recognizes the jurisdiction of the commercial court to hear an action based on breach of a know-how non-disclosure provision where patent infringement is not claimed.

Decree No 2009-1205 of 9 October 2009 fixing the location and jurisdiction of intellectual property courts, OJ No 0236 of 11 October 2009.

Cass. com. 6 December 2016, LawLex202200001015JBJ; Cass. com. 3 March 2015, LawLex202200001013JBJ.

CA Paris, 13 March 2018, LawLex202200000692JBJ.

CA Caen, 11 July 2017, LawLex202200000696JBJ; Cass. com. 21 January 2004, LawLex202300005559JBJ; CA Paris, 17 October 2017, LawLex202300005551JBJ, specifying that only disputes which draw their key elements for resolving the issue from the rules laid down by law in line with the specific purpose of patent technology, fall within the scope of litigation under Article L. 615- 17 of the Intellectual Property Code.

CA Toulouse, 10 April 2014, LawLex202200002134JBJ, which confirms the ruling of the Conseil des prud'hommes (labor tribunal) declaring itself incompetent in favor of the Tribunal de grande instance in Paris.

Cass. com, 21 January 2004, LawLex202300005559JBJ, ruling, in the context of litigation arising from a collaboration and research agreement, that the judicial court in Paris has sole jurisdiction, to the exclusion of the commercial court, when the determination of each party's contractual obligations and any breaches thereof depend on the validity and enforceability of a company's patent rights, the validity of the patent itself, and the public or confidential nature of information communicated to third parties, issues involving the specific rules of patent law.

CA Caen, 11 July 2017, LawLex202200000696JBJ.

Cass. com., 13 February 1996, LawLex202200004039JBJ.

Industrial Property Law

390. Sole jurisdiction

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390. Sole jurisdiction

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

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