Protection of Graphical User Interfaces as Registered Design Rights or Design Patents in France

Official fees for filing a registered design application with the French Intellectual Property Office (INPI) are:

• Filing fees: €39 (this flat-rate fee is independent of the number of designs applied for – a single filing may include up to 100 designs belonging to the same class); and
• Reproduction fees: €23 per reproduction provided in black and white / €47 per reproduction provided in colour.

Example: the official fees for filing a design application for two designs, accompanied by one colour reproduction and one black and white reproduction are: €39 filing fee + €23 for the reproduction in black and white + €47 for the reproduction in colour = €109.

• Must renew the registration on its fifth anniversary, for successive 5-year periods, up to a maximum of 25 years. Upon filing, for an additional fee amounting to €52, it is possible to request the protection of a design directly for a 10-year period and then renew the registration for successive 5-year periods.
• Fees:
  • Every renewal bears the same fee amounting to €52. Renewal is possible within the 6 months preceding the last day of the month in which the design was filed. For example, a design registered on 15 July 2020 may be extended from 31 January 2025 to 31 July 2025 included.
  • Late renewal (additional fee may be paid for a 6-month period from the day after the due date): €26

• Once the INPI has examined the application, and assuming there are no refusals raised, the design is usually registered within 6 months.
• Once the design is registered, the INPI publishes the design (unless the applicant has applied to defer the registration, see below).
• There is also the option for the applicant to defer their registration for up to 36 months (though the design will not be protected as a registered design during the period in which the application is deferred).

The grace period in France is 12 months, and therefore the applicant must file the application within the 12-month grace period (i.e. within 12 months of the first disclosure of the relevant design).

Up to 36 months.

• If the representative is a lawyer or a French industrial property counsel (“conseil en propriété industrielle”), a PoA is never required.
• If the representative is not a lawyer or a French industrial property counsel (“conseil en propriété industrielle”), a PoA is required in the hypothesis where:
  • there are several applicants (natural and/or legal entities); or
  • the applicant does not have its registered office in France or in an EEA Member State.

If claiming priority, the applicant must include details of the prior design application from which the priority claim is made either together with the design application, or within 3 months of the filing date. 

Within 3 months of the filing date of the priority claim, the applicant must submit priority documents, either:

• by providing the WIPO DAS access code; or
• by submitting a copy of all priority documents along with, where applicable, their translations.

Aside from formalities examination, the only substantive requirement examined by the INPI at the time of filing relates to the violation of public policy and accepted principles of morality.

No. There is no substantive examination of the design, and the INPI examiners will not examine the design’s novelty or individual character by reference to prior art. Post grant, third parties will be able to challenge the validity of the registration: it will be up to the French judges to assess the design’s novelty or individual character.

• To benefit from the priority of a first filing abroad, the applicant must indicate the name of the country of the first filing, the date of that filing and the filing number and also attach, if possible at the time of filing, or within a maximum of 3 months from the date of filing:
  • An official copy of the earlier filing;
  • If the earlier filing belongs to a third party, authorisation to claim priority, given by the owner of the earlier filing. This authorisation must be given in writing and must be attached to the filing; and
  • Translations of the above-mentioned documents if they are not written in French.
• The INPI examiner will examine the priority claim and the attached documents. The reproductions for which the applicant claims priority must be identical to the reproductions for which protection is sought. If the documents proving priority are not provided within 3 months from the date of filing, the INPI will send the applicant a decision rejecting the priority claim.

No, it is not possible to oppose a French design application at the application stage. The only opportunity to challenge a design is through an invalidity action after registration.

The design must be represented with at least one representation, with a maximum of 100 representations allowed per design.

• Yes, a sequence of animations can be protected within a single design application for a GUI. The relevant animation must be represented by including in the design application a clear sequence of the animation, specifically by filing a series of static images.
• Video uploads are not currently accepted by the INPI. Nevertheless, it is expected to change shortly since Article 3 of the Regulation (EU) 2024/2822 and Article 2 of Directive (EU) 2024/2823 provide that a design means “‘the appearance of the whole or a part of a product resulting from the features, in particular the lines, contours, colours, shape, texture and/or materials, of the product itself and/or of its decoration, including the movement, transition or any other sort of animation of those features”.

No written disclaimers are allowed. The representation of the views of the design must by themselves show the scope of protection the applicant is seeking. Accordingly, where the applicant wishes to disclaim any feature of a design this must be shown visually (graphically), typically through the use of dotted lines or blurring around any area or features of the design to which protection is not sought. No explanatory text, measurements, arrows or captions should appear on the representations.

• Generally, the INPI accepts pencil drawings, computer drawings, 3D renderings and photographs to represent a design.
• The INPI sets out the following guidelines on drawing conventions:
  • The applicant must show one view per upload.
  • The same design must be represented in a single type of representation: either using drawings or photographs but not a mixture of both.
  • The same design must be represented either in colour or in black and white, but never a mixture of both.
  • The background of the view must be plain and neutral (i.e. as empty as possible).
  • Any visual limitations must be consistent across all the views – exclusions can be illustrated by using broken lines, blurring, circling or colour shading.
  • There must be no text or symbols (i.e. elements that are not intrinsic to the design itself, such as explanatory text, numbers, measurements, arrows, lines or symbols).
  • Where photographs are used to represent the design, the photographs must be of good quality and resolution.
  • Where the applicant wishes to submit a set of elements (such as a modular product), it is necessary to provide at least one complete view of the set. Otherwise, each element will be treated as a separate design. Similarly, a view of the set is also required if the applicant wishes to submit an exploded view of the design (see below).

• A GUI can also be protected by copyright as a graphic work, provided it is original (author’s own intellectual creation) and it is created through human intervention (it is not solely the result of machine work). GUIs that are solely dictated by their technical function are excluded from protection.
• Elements in the GUIs, such as the screen display, icons, brands or logos may also be protected as a registered trademark.

N/A

• Focusing design protection on key features: as discussed above in answer to Q16, since there is no possibility to use words to describe the elements to be excluded, applicants should seek professional advice to ensure their drawings work to communicate effectively the elements of their design they are seeking to exclude. If an applicant makes the design too broad, there is a risk this renders the design more vulnerable to invalidity attacks.
• Clearance: before seeking design protection for GUIs, it is necessary for the applicant to make sure that the design to be filed is new and presents an individual character. It is crucial to check if the design to be filed does not infringe prior rights of third parties.
• Prior disclosure: designs should be filed preferably before any public disclosure is made or as an alternative, within the 12-month grace period.

• The INPI examiners check whether the views relate to the same design; as such, it is best to ensure views (of the GUI, when depicting animations) are consistent and clearly relate to the same animation sequence (i.e. using the same colours, fonts, shading, graphics, etc).
• Along with submitting multiple representations to accurately define the GUI, it is also important to use visual limitations to ensure the application is not invalidated by giving the impression that additional sequences/animations are intended to be protected. Using visual limitations must be consistent across all the views – exclusions can be illustrated by using broken lines, blurring, circling or colour shading.
• Another crucial point is to determine the filing strategy to ensure the most appropriate protection of the GUIs (which designs should be filed, how many designs per filing, which territories are relevant, etc.).
• We recommend professional legal advice is sought to obtain expert advice on the best way to present the GUIs. We have a dedicated French design legal team available to advise on this complex area of law. Further information can be found here.

• When filing a Hague application for GUI design protection, the applicant must ensure that it is either a national of a contracting party, or has domicile/habitual residence, or a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment in the territory of a contracting party.
• Filing via the Hague system also allows to seek protection for a design through a single (international) application; it is possible to designate up to 100 designs in 99 countries.
• Although filing via the Hague system allows to seek protection in multiple countries, and enables WIPO to undertake a central formalities check, the substantive examination process is left to the IP office of each designated country and their rules can vary considerably.
• The Hague system also allows for a maximum of 30 months for deferment of publication of the application, running from the filing date (or where priority is claimed, from the priority date of the application concerned).

• In November 2024, the Council of the EU approved the adoption of the Design Legislative Reform package, with some amendments entering into force already on 1 May 2025 and remaining changes applying from 1 July 2026. The EU design protection landscape will be modernised to reflect new technologies. Most importantly, the ‘design’ and ‘product’ definitions will become broader and clearer, with ‘design’ explicitly including animations, motions and transitions (see Article 3 of the Regulation (EU) 2024/2822 and Article 2 of the Directive (EU) 2024/2823).
• The new rules clarify that design protection is available also for non-physical products, such as ‘graphic user interfaces’, which are specifically mentioned in the new Regulation. The new legislation also opens a possibility for designs to be represented in any form of visual reproduction, which could be static, dynamic or animated, including drawings, photographs, videos, computer imaging or computer modelling.         
• The Regulation (EU) 2024/2822 has entered into force on 1 May 2025, while EU Member States (including France) will have until 9 December 2027 to transpose the Directive (EU) 2024/2823, which concerns national protection systems.