French Intellectual Property Code
In forceSubject to inadmissibility raised ex officio by the Institute, the examination phase referred to in Article L. 712-5 begins on expiry of the additional period referred to in the last paragraph of Article R. 712-14.
Subject to the cases of suspension or termination of the procedure provided for in Articles R. 712-17 and R. 712-18, the opposition shall be investigated in accordance with the following procedure:
1° The opposition shall be notified to the holder of the contested application for registration, who shall have a period of two months in which to submit written observations in response and to provide any documents he considers useful, either personally or through a representative meeting the conditions laid down in Article R. 712-2.
As part of these observations, the proprietor of the contested application may invite the opposing party, who is invoking an earlier trade mark, to produce such documents as may establish that that trade mark has been put to genuine use within the meaning of Article L. 714-5;
2° In the event of a reply from the proprietor of the application for registration, the opposing party shall have a period of one month in which to submit written observations in reply or any documents that it considers useful and, where applicable, to produce documents capable of establishing genuine use or just cause for non-use of the earlier trade mark concerned, in accordance with the provisions of Article L. 712-5-1;
3° In the event of a reply from the opponent, the proprietor of the application for registration shall have a period of one month to submit new written observations and produce new documents and, where appropriate, to contest the documents produced or the reason for non-use ;
4° In the event of a reply by the proprietor of the application for registration, the opposing party shall have a further period of one month within which to submit his final written observations in reply or to produce new documents;
5° In the event of a reply by the opposing party, the proprietor of the application for registration shall have a final period of one month within which to submit his final written observations or to produce new documents without being able to rely on new pleas.
When submitting written observations, each party may ask to present oral observations. The Director General of the Institute may also, without prior request, invite the parties to present oral observations if he considers it necessary for the purposes of the investigation.
In such cases, the parties shall be brought together at the end of the written phase of the investigation in order to present their oral observations, in accordance with the procedures laid down by decision of the Director General of the Institute.
The Director General of the Institute shall decide on the opposition in the light of all the written and oral observations submitted, if any, by the parties.
The opponent may, at any time during the proceedings, renounce one or more of the earlier rights or limit the scope of his application to some of the goods or services invoked or referred to, by express request.
