TIP: How to register your business trademark in France
8 Dec 08Discuss in the forum
You are all set to start your business in France, but you would like to protect your trademark or brand name in France. How do you go about it? The first step is to ensure that the name you have thought of isn’t already taken. Go to Ici Marques, click on “recherche par marque” and type your trademark, you’ll know within second if the name has been registered and for which type of businesses.
The next step is to register your brand or trademark with the Institut National de la Propriete Intellectuelle – INPI. You can register your trademark online (site in English) or fill in the form and return it by mail
It will cost you 200€ for an online registration with up to 3 categories and 250€ for a paper registration. A category refers to types of activities for which you wish to protect your trademark, for instance toys, clothes, musical instruments, cosmetics, etc. Extra categories will cost you an extra 40€ each.
To protect your trademark, you can fill in the trademark online registration form on the INPI web site.
If you are looking to register a patent, the INPI is also the place to go.
