Disputes & Resolution in France

Full guide · Source-checked research97% of statements checked against a source143 checked against an official source4 checked against a secondary sourceChecked 2026-10-19Not yet professionally reviewed

• The holder of an earlier right can oppose a French trademark application within two months of publication of the application in the Bulletin officiel de la propriété industrielle (BOPI); the INPI opposition fee is EUR 400 for one earlier right plus EUR 150 for each additional right.

  Earlier rights can include a French or EU trade mark, a well-known mark, a trade name, a domain name or a company name, under conditions.Institut national de la propriété industrielle (INPI) · checked 2026-10-19

• Paris hosts the seat of the Unified Patent Court's Central Division and a UPC local division.

  The Central Division has sections in Munich and Milan. Start date and participating states in fr-ip-g03.Unified Patent Court · checked 2026-10-19

• Safeguard proceedings (sauvegarde) are available to a company facing legal, economic or financial difficulties that is not in cessation of payments; the observation period is 6 months renewable once for up to 6 months, and the safeguard plan can last up to 10 years.

  Commercial and craft businesses go to the commercial court or, in the 12 pilot cities, the tribunal des activités économiques; liberal professions go to the judicial court or the TAE.Service Public Entreprendre (DILA) · checked 2026-10-18

• A company accused of breaches of probity, tax fraud or environmental offences can settle with the public prosecutor through a convention judiciaire d'intérêt public (CJIP), with a public-interest fine of up to 30% of its average annual turnover and, where required, a compliance programme under AFA supervision for up to three years.

  Code of Criminal Procedure, article 41-1-2. Performance of the obligations extinguishes the prosecution. The AFA reports 30 CJIPs for probity offences, 20 of them with AFA-monitored programmes.Agence française anticorruption (AFA) · checked 2026-10-19

• Since 1 January 2025, twelve commercial or judicial courts have been replaced by tribunaux des activités économiques (TAE) for a four-year experiment: Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Nanterre, Limoges, Avignon, Auxerre, Saint-Brieuc, Le Havre, Nancy, Versailles and Le Mans.

  Experiment under the Justice orientation and programming law 2023-2027 (law no. 2023-1059) and an order of 5 July 2024. Outside these cities the ordinary commercial courts continue.Service Public Entreprendre (DILA) · checked 2026-10-18

• The tribunaux des activités économiques hear alert, amicable and collective insolvency procedures for any debtor whatever its status or activity, including farmers and liberal professions, except regulated legal professions such as lawyers, notaries and bailiffs.

  Also related commercial lease disputes with a sufficient connection to the insolvency. Representation by a lawyer is not required for claims of EUR 10,000 or less in the listed cases.Service Public Entreprendre (DILA) · checked 2026-10-18

• Before a TAE, a claimant company with more than 250 employees bringing a claim above EUR 50,000 must pay a contribution pour la justice économique of 3% of the claim capped at EUR 50,000 (turnover EUR 50 million to EUR 1.5 billion and profit above EUR 3 million) or 5% capped at EUR 100,000 (turnover above EUR 1.5 billion), failing which the claim may be inadmissible.

  Not due for opening amicable or collective procedures. Refunded if the case ends by withdrawal or settlement. Separate scales apply to individuals.Service Public Entreprendre (DILA) · checked 2026-10-18

• France signed the New York Convention on 25 November 1958, ratified it on 26 June 1959 and it entered into force for France on 24 September 1959.

  United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) · checked 2026-10-18

Read the full guide: Trademarks, patents, copyright and enforcement · Courts, arbitration and enforcement