Exclusive jurisdiction of the Paris Judicial Court

The exclusive jurisdiction of the Paris Judicial Court means that no other French court may hear a dispute concerning a patent for invention. Article L. 615-17 of the Intellectual Property Code reserves these actions to courts designated by regulation, and the Code of Judicial Organisation designates the Paris Judicial Court alone, whose decisions are appealed to the Paris Court of Appeal.

Scope of the exclusive jurisdiction

The rule covers infringement actions, invalidity actions, disputes over ownership of the patent and disputes concerning supplementary protection certificates. It extends to related unfair competition claims joined to the infringement claim, which avoids splitting the dispute. Disputes over employee inventions follow their own regime, with the national commission on employee inventions available for conciliation.

A mandatory head of jurisdiction

Exclusive jurisdiction is a matter of public policy: lack of jurisdiction may be raised by the court of its own motion and leads to a transfer of the case, or even to the annulment of a judgment given by a court that was not designated. The parties cannot derogate from it by a jurisdiction clause. Recourse toarbitration remains possible for contractual aspects, while the effect of an award on the validity of the patent is still debated.

Interplay with the UPC

Since 1 June 2023, the Unified Patent Court has had exclusive jurisdiction over unitary patents and over European patents that have not been the subject of an opt-out, under Article 32 of the Agreement. During the transitional period provided for in Article 83, the Paris Judicial Court remains competent for the French part of a European patent, which opens a choice of forum. In any event, it retains exclusive jurisdiction over French patents.

Key points

A patent dispute is litigated in Paris and nowhere else in France. This concentration has produced a specialised court whose chambers know the technical subject matter. The real jurisdictional choice no longer lies between French courts but between Paris and the unified system.

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This glossary entry is general in scope and does not constitute legal advice.

Dhenne Avocats litigates patent disputes before the Paris Judicial Court, the Paris Court of Appeal and the Unified Patent Court. Where the question arises in a real case, the useful moment is almost always before proceedings are issued.

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