6. What is the scope of the monopoly granted by the patent?

Once granted, a patent gives its holder a temporary operating monopoly. In France, this period is 20 years from the date of filing of the application, just like the European patent.

However, for the patent to remain in force, and thus for the monopoly of exploitation to continue, the patent holder must meet his obligations, i.e. pay the relevant office the annual fees.

This monopoly should not be confused with an "authorization to operate". In the pharmaceutical field, for example, obtaining a patent does not obviate the need to obtain a marketing authorization (MA) for the product concerned, which can be particularly lengthy.

For this reason, the legislator introduced the principle of the supplementary protection certificate: attached to a main patent, it extends the duration of the protection conferred by the patent....