The French Government is continuing its modernisation of industrial property law and practice, with the latest changes in effect since 2 July 2026. Eric Enderlin outlines the impact on INPI patent applicants.
Published in the Official Journal of the French National Industrial Property Institute (Institut national de la propriété industrielle – INPI) on 1 July 2026, Decree No. 2026-576 of 30 June 2026 introduces various measures to harmonise, simplify and modernise the procedures of the INPI, amending 35 articles of the French Intellectual Property (IP) Code.
This decree, which came into force on 2 July 2026, aims to simplify the procedures for applicants, accelerate the processing of applications, complete the digitisation of procedures and strengthen the protection of personal data. Its provisions apply to ongoing procedures, except for the rules concerning official fee refunds and the SME reduction threshold, which only apply to applications submitted on or after 2 July 2026.