A particularity of the French system is the lack of a thorough examination of patentability.
This means in particular that there will be no contradictory exchange between the applicant and an examiner of the patent office (except in cases of flagrant lack of novelty).
This aspect makes the procedure for processing patent applications in France particularly simple (not necessarily faster).
Taken as the first deposit to protect an invention, the chronology (in calendar months) of an FR patent application processed by the INPI is summarized by the following chronogram:
The T0 given at the filing of the application is the point of birth of the protection and the date of reference for the events to follow.
In the diagram, the red segment on the time scale following the filing corresponds to a period (maximum 5 months) during which the invention must not be disclosed until the National Defense has given permission.
The Research Report prepared by the Office is generally transmitted between T0 + 8 and T0 + 10 months. The research report, even favorable, must be examined.
If the Research Report objects to the patentability of the invention, which is the most common case, an answer must be filed. Otherwise the application is deemed abandoned.
The yellow segment on the time scale corresponds to a period of three months, following publication, during which any third party may file observations against the novelty and the inventive step of the application. Note: in order to maintain the patent application in force, the patent must be paid to the INPI an annual fee (annuity) from the first anniversary of the application.
