Industrial Property Law

Applications recognized as being in conformity are published in the BOPI (Art. R. 512-10 IP Code). Such publication is regarded as registration.
However, at the time of filing, the applicant may request a three-year deferment of publication ( Art. R. 512-10 IP Code) , in order to preserve the secrecy of the creation before it is marketed, and to avoid exposing it to counterfeiting. Publication may …

Publication/Deferment

Applications recognized as being in conformity are published in the BOPI (Art. R. 512-10 IP Code). Such publication is regarded as registration.

However, at the time of filing, the applicant may request a three-year deferment of publication ( Art. R. 512-10 IP Code) , in order to preserve the secrecy of the creation before it is marketed, and to avoid exposing it to counterfeiting. Publication may only be deferred for the entire deposit. The applicant may waive deferment at any time. Such a waiver can only relate to the entire filing (Art. R. 512-10, para. 3, IP Code).

The rights attached to the filing are enforceable against third parties only from the date of publication. Consequently, only acts subsequent to publication can be classified as infringement, unless the proprietor has notified the alleged infringer of a copy of the application for registration (Art. L. 521-1, para. 2 and 3, IP Code) . From the date of publication of the application, any interested party may request to examine a design application file and obtain, at his or her own expense, a copy of the documents. However, the INPI may make the use of this right subject to proof of sufficient interest. In addition, documents which have not been disclosed to the applicant, as well as those containing personal data or relating to business secrets, are excluded from disclosure (Art. R. 512-10, para. 4, IP Code).

Once published, the application is entered in the national register of designs (Art. R. 512-13 IP Code). This registration confers on the design a presumption of validity. The national register of designs and models, kept by the INPI, contains, for each filing, the identification of the proprietor and the references of the filing, as well as subsequent acts which affect its existence or scope, acts amending the ownership of a design or the enjoyment of the rights attached to it, in the event of a claim of ownership, the corresponding summons, changes of name, legal form or address, as well as rectifications of material errors affecting the registrations. No entry is made in the register until the deposit has been made public in accordance with the conditions laid down in Article R. 512-10 of the Intellectual Property Code (Art. R. 512-13 IP Code).

While the law does not currently provide for a mark certifying that a design has been registered with the public, the proposed for Design Package directive of 28 November 2022 envisages the possibility of affixing the D symbol surrounded by a circle. Such an indication could be accompanied by the registration number of the design, or include a hyperlink to the entry of the design in the register (Art. 24).

Proposal for a Directive on the legal protection of designs calls for the publication of the registered design be deferred for a period of 30 months from the date of filing (Art. 30)

CA Paris, 15 October 2004, LawLex200500003772JBJ, which states that an undertaking is entitled to avail itself of design protection if it produces certificates of identity for its designs and proves that it has requested their publication prior to the writ of summons of the legal action.

Industrial Property Law

461. Publication/Deferment

Demandez un accès gratuit
au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise

Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

461. Publication/Deferment

Demandez un accès gratuit au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise

Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

Demandez un accès gratuit
au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise