5. Protecting abroad

The inventor or the company domiciled in France must, barring a few exceptions, make the first filing with INPI to enable the French Ministry of Defence to exercise its right of oversight. But national coverage is not necessarily sufficient. An international convention known as the Paris Convention establishes a period of 12 months from the date of filing in France, known as the priority period, during which the patent can be extended abroad, fictitiously benefiting from the same filing date.

Foreign filings generally require translation of the patent into the national language and the involvement of an agent qualified in the relevant national legislation. Your patent attorney in France will call on its international network of correspondents.