Doing Business In (Insert Country Name Here) - BNA

Protection of Property Rights Return to top
The French government continues its efforts to enforce intellectual property rights. On
October 16, 2007, the French Parliament approved a GOF bill on counterfeiting which
transposes into French law the April 29, 2004 EU Directive on the enforcement of
intellectual property rights. On April 6, the GOF issued an implementing decree
regarding the interoperability articles of the French Digital Copyright Law of August
2006. The decree established a Technical Measures Regulation Authority (TMRA),
which will decide on issues of interoperability of digital rights management (DRM)
systems, as well as rights to copy original works for private use. The law and decree
create an uncertain environment for proprietary DRM systems in France. Article 15 of
the digital copyright law could result in source code disclosure obligations on technical
protection measures and security software providers who make their products available
in France, though implementing regulations have yet to be finalized. In order to
strengthen French policy on illegal downloading of music and movies, a commission
appointed by President Sarkozy presented a series of proposals in November 2007 to
prevent piracy and to stimulate the growth of a legal digital music and movie market. A
number of these proposals should become law in 2008.
France is a traditionally strong defender of intellectual property rights and has highly
developed protection for intellectual property. Under the French system, patents and
trademarks protect industrial property, while literary/artistic property is protected by
copyrights. By virtue of the Paris Convention and the Washington Treaty regarding
industrial property, U.S. nationals have a "priority period" after filing an application for a
U.S. patent or trademark in which to file a corresponding application in France. This
period is twelve months for patents and six months for trademarks.
Transparency of Regulatory System Return to top
The French government has made considerable progress in recent years improving the
transparency and accessibility of its regulatory system. Government Ministers,
companies, consumer organizations and trade associations may petition the Unfair
Competition Council to investigate anti-competitive practices.
Of most concern to foreign companies has been standards setting. With standards
different from those in the U.S., rigorous testing and approval procedures must
sometimes be undertaken before goods can be sold in France. Where EU-wide
standards do not exist, specific French standards apply. The United States and the EU
have negotiated mutual recognition agreements covering the testing and certification of
certain specified regulated products. Information about these agreements and efforts to
extend them can be found at the website of the Trans-Atlantic Business Dialogue,
[http://www.tabd.com/]. The importance of cooperation on regulatory issues to the
transatlantic business environment was further underscored during the French American
Business Council (FABC), which met in November 6-7, 2007 in Washington. The
Transatlantic Economic Council, established last spring at U.S.-EU annual Summit, and
which met on November 9, 2007, will also focus on improving regulatory cooperation.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology, [http://www.nist.gov/], is
represented at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures, [http://www.bipm.fr/],
located in Sevres, France, and may be of assistance to firms.
2/15/2008 Country Commercial Guide for France 111
INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT, U.S. & FOREIGN COMMERCIAL SERVICE AND U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
© 2007. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED STATES.