2-3 years
A novelty grace period of 6 months is available if:
- Disclosures caused at officially organized or officially sanctioned international exhibitions
- Disclosure resulting from being made public for reasons related to the misuse of the inventor or its predecessor owner
INPI only conducts formality examination of design patent applications.
3 months
Reinstatement of priority is accepted on grounds of "due care."
yes. Before the applicant has received a final decision, an application to change the type of invention from a utility model to an invention may be proposed.
INPI conducts formality examination and substantive examination of invention patent applications. Substantive examination begins automatically, without the need to file a separate request.
If the disclosure is caused by the designer, the novelty grace period is 12 months from the date of disclosure.
- Licensing Fee: None.
- Annuity: pay once every 5 years, and must be paid within 6 months before the due date of the application. If the annual fee is overdue, it can be paid within a grace period of 6 months, and a 50% penalty is required.
INPI only conducts formality examination of utility model patent applications. Substantive examination may only be requested if the applicant deems it necessary. An invention protected by a patent can be protected simultaneously or successively with a utility model. To this end, applicants have a maximum of 1 year to make changes.
- via Paris Convention : 12 months from earliest priority date.
- via Nationalization of PCT : 30 months from the earliest priority date.