We Offer Strategic Legal Services
Register Your Design in France
Safeguard your creative work with the help of our French intellectual-property lawyers and paralegals, who manage the full registration process — from assessing registrability and preparing drawings to filing before the INPI or EUIPO, monitoring deadlines, and delivering your official design registration certificate.
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What Does It Mean to Register Your Design in France?
A registered design (also called a dessin ou modèle déposé) protects the appearance of a product — its shape, lines, colors, textures, or ornamentation. It is a key tool for creators, designers, and companies who wish to secure exclusive rights over their visual innovations.
Registering your design in France (with the INPI) or throughout the European Union (with the EUIPO) grants legal protection against unauthorized reproduction, imitation, or marketing of similar designs. It also strengthens your brand identity, enhances asset valuation, and supports enforcement before courts or customs authorities.
Main Advantages :
Broad protection: covers the aesthetic features of products in any industrial or craft sector (fashion, furniture, packaging, tech, etc.).
Fast registration: designs can be registered in a matter of days, ensuring early protection.
Affordable and renewable : initial protection lasts five years and can be renewed up to 25 years.
Exclusive rights: the holder may prohibit reproduction or sale of similar designs.
Proof of ownership: an official certificate confirming legal title and creation date, enforceable across France or the EU.
Registering your design helps prevent copying, reinforces your competitive advantage, and turns your creative concept into a recognized and enforceable property right.
How to Register Your Design in France?
Securing your design protection is quick and fully compliant with IP law when handled by FrenchCo.lawyer. Here’s how we guide you step by step:
Assessing Eligibility
We analyze your design to ensure it meets the legal criteria of novelty and individual character and confirm that it has not been previously disclosed.
Preparing the Application
Our team drafts the description, prepares high-quality reproductions or renderings, defines the products under the Locarno classification, and advises on the scope of protection.
Filing with the INPI or EUIPO
Depending on your goals, we file the application nationally (France) or at the EU level for unitary protection across all 27 Member States.
Publication and Examination
The Office checks formal compliance and publishes your design, allowing you to defer publication if secrecy is temporarily needed.
Delivery of Registration Certificate
You receive the official design certificate — your legal proof of ownership — along with digital copies and guidance for renewal or enforcement.
Why Choose FrenchCo.lawyer ?
All filings are managed by registered French lawyers with assistance from trained IP paralegals. We ensure each application is strategically drafted and formally compliant, giving you speed, reliability, and enforceability in France and across Europe. You can focus on your creative work — we’ll make sure your design is legally protected and ready to defend.
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What We Need From You to a Register Your Your Design ?
To register your design efficiently, we will ask you to provide:
Design Files
High-resolution images or renderings showing all significant views (front, side, perspective, etc.).
Applicant Information
Full legal name, address, and nationality of the owner (individual or company).
Designer Details
Name(s) of the creator(s) for acknowledgment and moral-rights purposes.
Product Description & Use
Short description of the product type and intended use (e.g., chair, packaging, logo interface, jewelry).
And Then?
Once these elements are collected, our lawyers prepare and file your application, monitor it through to registration, and deliver your official certificate together with all necessary documentation for your archives or enforcement needs.
Register Your Design– Simple Process, Clear Budget
Flat legal fee starting from €999 excl. taxes* (includes design analysis, drafting, filing, and registration monitoring)
Additional mandatory costs: official INPI or EUIPO filing and publication fees
No hidden extras, no unexpected charges
Our commitment:
No inflated “design protection packages” — only what’s legally required
No online resellers or automated filings — direct lawyer involvement
Every design filing prepared and verified by qualified IP professionals
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Why Choose Us?
We Believe in Precise, Lawyer-Led Design Protection
Fast and reliable filing: From design preparation to registration certificate, we handle every step efficiently with French and EU offices.
Legally compliant protection: Each filing meets the latest INPI and EUIPO design regulations to ensure valid, enforceable rights.
Accurate legal drafting: Your application is carefully structured to secure the full scope of your design’s originality and exclusivity.
High professional standards: All filings are managed by qualified French IP lawyers, guaranteeing precision, compliance, and traceability.
Let us secure your design rights — so you can focus on developing and showcasing your creations in France.
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Understanding the Design Registeration in France
Can a foreign designer or company register a design in France or the EU?
Yes. Any individual or legal entity, regardless of nationality or residence, can file for design protection in France or throughout the European Union. The rules are harmonized to ensure equal access to intellectual property rights.
1. Designers living abroad
You do not need to reside in France or the EU to register a design. Applications may be filed directly with the INPI (for France) or the EUIPO (for all 27 EU Member States). Non-resident applicants typically appoint a local representative or authorized attorney to manage filings and correspondence.
2. EU, EEA, and Swiss citizens
Nationals of the European Union, European Economic Area, or Switzerland can freely apply for protection at the INPI or EUIPO, manage filings themselves, or use a professional representative for convenience.
3. Non-EU nationals
Applicants from outside the EU must use a qualified representative established in the European Economic Area. This ensures proper handling of procedural steps and official notifications.
4. International protection
Designers may also file under the Hague System (administered by WIPO), which allows a single international application to cover multiple countries, including France and the EU.
In short: anyone can register a design in France or Europe. Residence is irrelevant — representation and compliance are what matter.
How to register a design in France or the EU?
The registration process is structured and predictable.
- Preparation and search
The applicant reviews existing designs to confirm novelty and prepares drawings or photographs showing each relevant view. - Application filing
The application (with description and images) is filed with the INPI (for French protection) or EUIPO (for European protection). - Formal examination
The office checks administrative compliance — format, clarity, classification — but does not assess novelty substantively. - Publication
The design is published and becomes enforceable. The applicant may request deferred publication (up to 30 months) to maintain confidentiality. - Certificate of registration
Once formalities are cleared, the office issues the certificate of registration, granting exclusive rights to the owner.
Timeline: from filing to certificate, registration can take as little as a few days for straightforward cases.
Can I claim priority from a foreign filing?
Yes. If you have filed a design application abroad (e.g., in the U.S. or Japan), you can claim priority within six months when filing in France, the EU, or internationally. This ensures your earlier date of protection is recognized worldwide.
How can design ownership be transferred or licensed?
Designs are intellectual property assets that can be:
- assigned (sold to another entity), or
- licensed (granted for use, with or without exclusivity).
Transfers and licenses must be registered with the INPI or EUIPO to have effect against third parties. Licenses can be limited by duration, geography, or product category.
Summary: like trademarks or patents, designs can generate income through licensing or be transferred as part of business assets.
- assigned (sold to another entity), or
Can digital or graphical designs (like UI or icons) be registered?
Yes. Modern design law recognizes graphical user interfaces (GUI), icons, and screen layouts as protectable designs, provided their visual features are new and distinctive. Animated or sequence-based designs can also be filed as multiple views.
What can be protected by a design registration?
A design protects the appearance of a product, not its function. It covers all visual characteristics: shape, contours, lines, colors, texture, and materials.
Examples: furniture, packaging, logos, clothing patterns, digital icons, or product interfaces.
Protection applies to:
- industrial or craft products;
- parts of complex items (e.g., car headlights);
- graphical symbols and typographic characters.
Excluded are features dictated solely by a product’s technical function or those that must be reproduced exactly for mechanical compatibility.
Summary: design protection targets aesthetic innovation — how something looks, not how it works.
What are the conditions for a valid design registration?
A design must satisfy three key legal criteria:
- Novelty – It must not be identical to any prior design made public before the filing or priority date.
- Individual character – It must produce a different overall impression on an informed user compared to earlier designs.
- Visibility – For parts of complex products, the visible portion must be apparent during normal use.
Designs can still be filed within 12 months of their first disclosure (the “grace period”) under French and EU law.
What rights does a registered design confer?
The design owner enjoys an exclusive right to use the design and may prevent others from:
- manufacturing, offering, or selling products reproducing it;
- importing or exporting infringing goods;
- using it for advertising or marketing purposes.
These rights apply throughout the territory where the design is registered (France or EU) and last five years, renewable every five years up to 25 years.
Summary: registration provides monopoly-like protection over your design’s commercial use and appearance.
What are the official fees and renewal costs?
Stage | INPI (France) | EUIPO (EU) |
Filing (1 design) | ~€39 | €350 |
Each additional design (same application) | €23 | €175 |
Publication (optional deferral available) | included | included |
Renewal (per 5 years) | from €52 | from €90 |
Professional attorney fees are separate and vary depending on the number of designs, drawings, and jurisdictions selected.
Summary: filing one design in France is inexpensive, but EU-wide protection costs more and covers 27 countries.
What happens if someone copies my design?
Unauthorized use or imitation of a registered design constitutes infringement (contrefaçon).
The owner can take legal action before the Tribunal judiciaire (France) or EU IP courts to:
- stop production or marketing of infringing goods;
- obtain damages for losses suffered;
- request destruction or confiscation of counterfeit stock;
- and, where necessary, seize evidence through saisie-contrefaçon procedures.
Summary: registration gives you strong enforcement tools against copies — both civil and, in some cases, criminal.
Register Your Design in France
Let our French IP lawyers & paralegals handle the filing and protection process for you.
More About Registering Your Design in France
Can I register multiple designs at once?
Yes. You can file a multiple design application with the INPI or EUIPO, provided all designs belong to the same class.
What documents will I need?
You’ll need high-quality images or drawings of the design, applicant identity proof, and a clear product description.
Do I need prior disclosure or novelty check?
Yes. The design must be new and distinctive; we perform a novelty assessment to reduce refusal risks.
How long does registration take?
French registrations are usually processed within 2–3 weeks, while EU filings may take up to 4 weeks.
Can I file my design remotely?
Absolutely. All filings can be handled online — we prepare and submit everything on your behalf.
What are the typical costs?
- Fees depend on the number of designs and jurisdictions (France or EU). We provide a full transparent quote upfront.
What about renewal and protection duration?
Design protection lasts 5 years and can be renewed every 5 years, up to a maximum of 25 years.
Can I expand protection internationally later?
Yes. Once registered in France or the EU, you can extend protection via the Hague international system.
