Exclusive jurisdiction Tribunal de Grande Instance (Paris)

With thanks to Pauline Debré, Bird&Bird

As of November 1, 2009, the Tribunal de Grande Instance in Paris (the first instance court) has exclusive jurisdiction for all patent actions brought in France.

The change results from of Decree n° 2009-1205, which was issued on October 9, 2009. The Decree applies to patents, utility certificates, supplementary protection certificates (SPC) and topographies of semiconductor products, and is also applicable to the procedure of “saisie-contrefaçon”.

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The patentee shall only seek from the President of the Paris First Instance Court an order for a “saisie-contrefaçon” in order to seize the allegedly infringing goods anywhere in France.

Jurisdiction for patent cases was previously shared between seven Courts in France (Marseille, Bordeaux, Strasbourg, Lille, Lyon, Paris and Toulouse).

The Decree entered into force on 1st November 2009. Nevertheless, it provides that the Courts - before which proceedings have been introduced prior 1st November 2009 – remain competent.

Read the Decree (in French) on the EPLAW homepage.