IP Handbook - Home
The comprehensive guide to the world's leading tax firms

At-a-glance: Institut National de la Propiété Industrielle 15 rue des Minimes, 92400 Courbevoie, France Tel: +33 (0) 171 087 163 Website: www.inpi.fr The main talking point in the French IP market in 2012 was the decision reached by the EU's executive... [more]

The main talking point in the French IP market in 2012 was the decision reached by the EU's executive committee to award the central seat of the unitary patent court to Paris. On the surface, it looked like Francois Hollande's government had achieved a major coup, but exactly how influential the court will be remains to be seen. A common expectation is the regional and local divisions in the countries with experienced patent judges – Germany, and to some extent the UK and Netherlands – will continue to see most of the cases. From a French perspective, "geographical location is not really important". The benefit is seen as "purely economic", and some lawyers salivate at the prospect of pan-European unitary patent litigation, which will be referred to Paris when there are proceedings relating to the same patent taking place in at least three jurisdictions. "We have good reason to be very happy because the litigation here under the UPC system will be extremely costly and we will make a lot of money," says one partner.

Patent litigation has been increasing in France. Typically pharmaceutical cases dominate French caseloads, and in 2012 it was no different. Where there has been a change is in the parties involved. "We've seen an increasing number of cases where it's originator against originator," says one partner. Lawyers blame recent consolidation within the industry and the advent of "more complex" and valuable technologies for this development.

An interesting trend in patent cases is that decisions are seen to have been more pro-patentee than in the past. A new judge at the Paris Court of Appeals who was previously a Board of Appeal member at the EPO has reputedly been putting his stamp on rulings. "Since the new judge was appointed, some of the decisions are closer to the EPO in terms of inventive step and validity," says one patent litigator. A perfect example is Eli Lilly's dispute with Sandoz, where the court dismissed Sandoz's claim for infringement on the basis of inventive step, and ordered Sandoz pay the defendant's €500,000 legal fees, an unprecedented amount in France.

The view from the prosecution side of the market is generally positive. Although no official statistics for national filings have been released yet, most attorneys note an increase, or at least no decline in their year-on-year figures. "We have seen an increase of roughly 10%," says one managing partner at a prosecution boutique. "Prosecution is still very active. There was a little slow down in March and June, but over the year we are making good progress," is another partner's appraisal of 2012.

With a new government elected in May, movement on any new IP legislation has been slow. "I'm not sure the government is really focused on IP right now. It is always speaking about innovation and research, but it's the same in every country," says one partner. However, a draft law that would allow lawyers to become partners, or own a share in, prosecution firms (or vice-versa) is on the table. "We are still waiting for the regulations to say exactly how it would be organised," remarks one attorney.