How to protect product branding

Product brands can be protected in France by registering them with INPI (Institut National de la Propriété Industrielle).

The body warns that if you fail to do this, competitors could use the same brand names, logos and slogans as you.

By registering, you safeguard your ownership of the brand for a period of 10 years and can renew indefinitely.

You are entitled to sue anyone who uses, or imitates your brand for infringing your trademark or for unfair competition and can have them stopped from using it. You can protect a word or name, a slogan, a mixture of letters and numbers, a logo or drawing, a combination of these elements and even a jingle.

It can also be a hologram, three-dimensional or written in a foreign language.

There are limits, however - for example a brand name or slogan must not simply describe the product (such as a brand of sandwiches called ‘sandwich’) unless you can prove you have been using such a phrase for a long time already; you can't simply give it a praise word (‘great’ ‘super’), a misleading name (Geneva for a watch made in France), an offensive name, a protected official symbol, like a flag, listed by the World Intellectual Property Organization WIPO, or an appellation contrôlée name.

Check also that your exact branding is not already in use for a similar product or service - any one of INPIs 16 branches around France can do this free, or do an internet search using four recommended sites: fr.espacenet.com, www.plutarque.com or www.icimarques.com or
www.euridile.com.

It is also recommended to check for similar brands, for which INPI charges a fee. You may also wish to consult a professional intellectual property adviser (un conseiller en proprieté intellectuelle). For a searchable database visit the INPI homepage www.inpi.fr and click annuaire des conseils PI on the top right.

Application forms can be dropped in at an INPI office, or sent by recommended letter, along with payment.

There is on online form and help guide (in English). Registering costs starts at €225 for up to three kinds of product or service, then €40 per additional one.