In France, the annual fee is payable on the last day of the month in which the annual fee is due. If you still fail to pay on time at this time, you can pay a 50% late payment fee within the subsequent six-month late payment period to keep the patent valid. However, if the payment is not made within the six-month arrears period, the patent right will expire, and the patent owner will also receive a notice of loss of rights issued by the French Patent Office.
At this time, if you still need to keep the patent valid, you need to file a request for rights restoration. The time limit for filing a request for rights restoration is two months from the date when the obstacles are eliminated. Typically, when the patentee receives notice of loss of rights, the obstacle ceases to exist, but this is not always the case. (Note! A request for restoration of patent rights needs to be filed within one year of the expiration date of the late payment period).
A patent owner who files a request for restoration of rights due to non-payment of annual fees and late fees must also provide an explanation of the non-payment of fees and pay 156 euros together with the late fees.
The French Patent Office's standard for rights restoration requests is "due care", which is what we usually call "due care". Acceptable reasons include: illness; company organization is chaotic, and more rights holders have adopted "agencies" "mistake". But in France, the agency’s mistakes are not enough to explain the problem. This is not exactly the same as filing a claim with the EPO. In other words, the French Patent Office believes that even if it is the agency’s mistake, the patentee himself should take all necessary measures. measures to avoid losing patent rights.
