25 May PACTE Act – A stronger French patent
One of the flagship measures of the PACTE Act regarding patents provides that patent applications filed on or after May 22, 2020 will now be examined not only for novelty and industrial application, but also for inventive step.
This measure intends to strengthen the quality, credibility and validity of French patents, the lack of inventive step being the main reason for the cancellation of patents in infringement litigations.
This change should therefore benefit companies by providing them with stronger patent grants. The legal certainty of third-parties will also be increased.
The other side of the coin ? This measure is likely to make the granting of a French patent longer and more difficult than before.
However, the INPI is currently carrying out a vast recruitment campaign for examiners in order to strengthen its teams and hopefully to avoid lengthening the examination procedure.
The first grants of French patents examined with these reinforced criteria are expected in February 2022.
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