Applications for several classes
In France, applications for trademarks in many classes are possible.

France's filing requirements
The National Institute of Industrial Property's (INPI) hearings are conducted only in French. The application for registration must include the following information to get the filing date-

• Information about the applicant;
• A representation of the trademark;
• A description of the goods and services;
• A priority claim, if any and
• Proof of payment of the required fees.
Within three months after the filing date, a certified copy of the priority document and its translation must be filed. If the application is represented by an industrial property attorney, the Power of Attorney is not required. In other situations, you should present the original, unnotarized Power of Attorney.

French trademark application publication, opposition, and examination
Trademarks are assessed for formal compliance, and a sign's distinctiveness is determined by the results of the substantive assessment. There is no prior trademark search done. Applications are published six weeks after the date of filing. Two months after an application is published is the deadline for filing an opposition.

Grant, duration of validity, and renewal of a trademark
In France, there isn't a formal grant fee. In France, trademarks have a ten-year initial validity period that is extendable an unlimited number of times for additional ten-year periods. A request for renewal may be submitted within the twelve months that end on the day a trademark expires. During a grace period of six months, the payment may still be made and a renewal may be requested; a comparable surcharge is applicable.

The duration of the registration process
It usually takes 4-6 months to register a trademark in France.

Use requirement
A third party may request that the French IP Institute cancel a trademark if it has not been used for five years following registration.

Using a trademark attorney as representation
It is necessary to register a trademark through an agent, a licensed French trademark attorney, for applicants who do not reside in France, the EU, or the EEA.

French trademark fees

• Search prices First class- $100.00, each subsequent classes- $80.00
The cost only applies to wordmarks. A figurative element (logo) in the trademark will incur an extra price of $30 USD per class.
• Cost of applications First class is $800.00, each subsequent class costs $400.00.

Why and how to file a trademark in France
Either a local application or an EU trademark may be filed to gain trademark protection in France. In Martinique, Guadeloupe, St. Barthélemy, French Saint-Martin, French Guiana, Reunion Island, New Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna Islands, Mayotte, Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, and the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, local applications submitted through the Institut National de la Propriété Industrielle (INPI) automatically grant protection. French Polynesia may be included in the trademarks.

French citizens and residents of all other EU members are protected under European Union Trademarks (EUTM). The exclusive right to use a trademark is limited to using it in the precise form or manner in which it was filed and registered if you register a combined trademark in France (one that combines both word components and figurative elements). It is advised that you file for a different trademark that only includes the word or figurative features you intend to use and protect separately. This is true if you wish to use the word element of your trademark separately from the logo (or vice versa).

However, you will have the right to oppose the application on the grounds of confusing similarity if a third party subsequently wants to register or use a trademark for comparable goods or services that includes a primary or separate component or portion of your trademark. Depending on the specifics of each case, many conditions will affect the odds of an opposition's victory. The INPI will simultaneously publish the application when it is submitted and start the assessment process to determine whether the trademark is eligible for registration. The INPI does not look for identical or confusingly similar trademark applications or registrations.

You can order a trademark search to determine, before to filing, whether a trademark has a good possibility of being accepted for registration. For trademarks exclusively filed in France, you can do this locally, or you can broaden the search and order a European Union trademark search, which will also turn up any identical trademarks registered or filed in any other EU nation. Third parties may file oppositions based on a prior right (such as a previously registered trademark) or observations based on absolute grounds during the publishing period of two months following the publication date (for example, that the proposed mark is merely descriptive).

In France, trademark rights are granted to the first person to file them rather than the first person to use them, excluding some limited circumstances. This is known as a "first-to-file" jurisdiction. The use of the trademark prior to registration is not required and will not help to overturn claims that it lacks uniqueness.

Although using the trademark is not necessary for it to register, it must be used within 5 years of the last use in order to avoid having it cancelled for non-use. It must be used on a commercial scale in France.

A trademark is registered for a first period of ten years beginning on the application filing date, following which it may be renewed for additional ten-year periods. Between six months before and six months after the expiration date, the renewal request may be submitted. If the renewal is submitted after the expiration date, additional fees will be charged. The Madrid Protocol is a treaty that France is a party to. As a result, this nation is able to extend an international trademark registration under the Madrid System.