Patent lawyers in Paris
Domains of expertise > Patent law
Are you launching a technology, negotiating a licence, dealing with an employee invention, or facing a copy, a cease-and-desist letter or an opposition?
Bouchara & Avocats acts in patent law, in advisory work as well as in litigation, to protect and defend its clients’ inventions in France and internationally.
To discuss a patent contract or dispute:
A firm recognised in intellectual property by the leading legal directories: Chambers, Legal 500, Décideurs, IP STARS and Lexology Index.
Our patent law services
The firm assists you with drafting and negotiating your contracts, auditing your patent portfolio and preventing or resolving disputes.
Patent audits and strategic transactions
In the context of an acquisition, a fundraising round, a partnership or a restructuring, we analyse the patents, pending applications, contracts, co-ownership arrangements and licences involved in the transaction.
The audit covers in particular:
- title and the chain of ownership;
- whether the rights are still in force and the territories they cover;
- licences, exclusivity arrangements and sub-licensing rights;
- existing co-ownership, security interests and restrictions;
- the consistency between the patents held and the technologies or assets covered by the transaction.
We identify the rights to be regularised, the clauses to be renegotiated and the legal risks liable to affect the transaction.
Patent contracts and monetisation
We draft and negotiate the agreements required to develop, hold and exploit inventions, in particular:
- research and development agreements;
- patent licences;
- patent assignments;
- co-ownership agreements;
- technology transfer agreements;
- agreements covering know-how and future improvements.
Our work focuses in particular on ownership of the results, the scope of the rights granted, the territories, exclusivity, royalties, sub-licensing rights and each partner’s obligations.
Confidentiality and securing your exchanges
Before disclosing technical information to a potential investor, partner, supplier or buyer, we draft or review the confidentiality agreements required.
We take care to define the protected information, the permitted uses, who may access it and the conditions for returning or destroying the documents. These precautions also help to preserve the protection of information covered by trade secrecy.
Patent pre-litigation and litigation, as claimant and as defendant
Before starting proceedings or responding to a claim, we analyse the scope and validity of the patent, the products or processes concerned, the available evidence and the legal and commercial stakes of the dispute.
Depending on the situation, our lawyers assist you to:
- prepare or respond to a cease-and-desist letter;
- conduct a negotiation on ceasing the acts complained of, modifying a product, entering into a licence or reaching a settlement;
- arrange an infringement seizure or apply for interim measures;
- bring or defend infringement proceedings, an opposition, an invalidity action or a declaration of non-infringement;
- assess the economic consequences of the infringement and the damages that may be claimed.
We therefore act both for patentees seeking to defend their rights and for companies against which a patent is asserted.
Employee inventions
We put in place the internal procedures for declaring and handling inventions. We advise your company on their classification, the allocation of rights, inventor remuneration and the formalisation of agreements, and we act in any negotiations or disputes that may follow.
Situations the firm handles
Bouchara & Avocats steps in when the ownership, the contractual exploitation or the defence of a patent raises a legal difficulty for the business.
A competitor appears to be copying your invention
A resemblance between two products is not enough to establish infringement. The product or process complained of must be compared against the claims asserted, the status and territorial scope of the patent must be checked, and the relevant evidence must be preserved. The firm determines whether a cease-and-desist letter, an infringement seizure, an interim measure or proceedings on the merits is the right course.
You are negotiating a licence, an assignment or a development agreement
Who will own the results, in which countries may they be exploited and on what terms? The firm drafts or negotiates the agreement so as to set out clearly each party’s rights, exclusivity, royalties, the treatment of future improvements and the consequences of ending the collaboration.
You are preparing an acquisition, a fundraising round or a partnership
Before the transaction, it must be checked which patents and contracts the company actually holds, whether the rights are in force and whether licences, co-ownership arrangements or restrictions limit their exploitation. The firm carries out that audit, identifies what needs to be regularised and assists in negotiating suitable warranties or contractual clauses.
Your company is accused of infringement
A cease-and-desist letter or a writ must be analysed before any admission, technical response or product modification. The firm checks the status of the patent asserted, construes its claims, examines the acts complained of and looks for arguments capable of affecting the validity of the right. That initial analysis makes it possible to structure the response, the negotiation or the court defence.
You need to classify an employee invention
Ownership of an invention depends on the employee’s duties, on the assignment given to them and on the circumstances in which the work was carried out. We assist companies with classifying the invention, handling the declaration, exercising any right of attribution and determining the additional remuneration or fair price (provided for by article L. 611-7 of the French Intellectual Property Code).
Intellectual property expertise brought to bear on your patent matters
The patent matters handled by Bouchara & Avocats combine contractual, evidential and litigation issues. Our lawyers bring together the legal analysis of the patents and their claims with ownership of the rights, the contracts entered into, the available evidence and the objectives pursued in the transaction or the dispute.
We represent our clients before the specialist French courts, in particular the Paris Judicial Court and the Paris Court of Appeal. Where a case has a particular technical or international dimension, we also coordinate the experts, patent attorneys and local counsel required.
Awards and rankings
Bouchara & Avocats is regularly recognised by the leading French and international directories for its expertise in intellectual property and industrial property.
Chambers France 2026 — Intellectual Property: Trade Mark & Copyright
Vanessa Bouchara — Band 2, thirteen years in the rankings.
Legal 500 EMEA 2026 — France — Intellectual Property
Bouchara & Avocats — Tier 2 in Trade Marks and Designs and in Copyright.
Décideurs | Leaders League 2026 — Industrial property
Bouchara & Avocats — « Highly recommended » in trade marks: litigation.
IP STARS — Managing IP 2026
Bouchara & Avocats — Trusted Talent Firm, Intellectual Property.
Lexology Index, formerly Who’s Who Legal
Vanessa Bouchara — Thought Leader, France, IP – Trademarks.
Best Law Firms in France 2026 — Intellectual Property Law
Bouchara & Avocats — Paris Tier 3.
Best Lawyers in France
Vanessa Bouchara — Art Law and Intellectual Property Law, recognised since 2020.
Our working method
1. Framing the situation and the deadlines
We identify the patents, contracts and parties involved, the territories, the objectives of the transaction or dispute and any urgent deadlines.
2. Analysis of the rights, the facts and the evidence
Our lawyers examine the patents and their claims, the contracts, the correspondence, the assignments and licences, the products or processes at issue and the available evidence.
3. Comparison of the scenarios and recommendation
We compare the contractual, amicable, administrative and judicial options in terms of timing, legal risk, cost and commercial consequences.
4. Implementation and coordination
The firm prepares the contracts, letters, negotiations, evidence-gathering measures or proceedings decided upon, and coordinates the internal teams as well as the technical or international advisers involved in the matter.
What does a patent protect?
A patent protects a technical solution to a technical problem. To be patentable, the invention must be new, involve an inventive step and be capable of industrial application (French Intellectual Property Code, articles L. 611-10 et seq.).
Protection does not extend to the product as a whole, but to the technical features defined by the claims. The way they are drafted therefore directly determines the scope of the patent and the ability to enforce it against a competitor.
A mere idea is not patentable as such. It must be sufficiently developed and described to allow its technical features to be analysed.
Depending on the nature of the innovation, the strategy may also draw on design rights, copyright or digital law.
You hold a patent or a patent is asserted against you: which strategy should you adopt?
A patent dispute is not handled in the same way depending on whether the company is seeking to stop an infringement or is facing an asserted patent. In both cases, our lawyers carry out a legal and technical analysis before taking any position.
| Point to analyse | You are the patentee | Your company is the defendant |
|---|---|---|
| The patent concerned | Check ownership, whether the patent is in force and the territories it covers. | Check the proprietor, the status, the territorial scope and the claims actually relied on. |
| The technical comparison | Identify the claims that may be reproduced by the competing product or process. | Compare the acts complained of against each feature of the claims asserted. |
| Evidence and documents | Preserve the available material before making contact and determine whether an evidence-gathering measure is needed. | Preserve the documents recording the development, manufacture and marketing of the product, together with the exchanges with designers, suppliers and partners. |
| Deadlines | Identify the urgency, the risk of evidence disappearing and the time limits applying to the measures contemplated. | Check the deadlines for responding, the launch dates and the risk of an interim measure or an infringement seizure. |
| The strength of the patent | Anticipate the invalidity arguments the defendant may raise in response to an action. | Search for prior art and arguments capable of limiting the scope or affecting the validity of the patent. |
| The strategic response | Compare negotiation, a cease-and-desist letter, an infringement seizure, interim measures and proceedings on the merits. | Compare contesting the claims, negotiating a licence, seeking a settlement and defending the case in court. |
The first step is to determine which claims are genuinely relevant and to compare them against the product, the process or the acts concerned. A general resemblance between two technologies is not enough to establish infringement.
The firm then examines the patents, the technical material, the contracts and the available evidence in order to assess the various scenarios. Where necessary, an infringement seizure allows material useful in proving the infringement to be described or seized, under a court order (French Intellectual Property Code, art. L. 615-5).
French patent, European patent, Unitary Patent and PCT: what are the differences?
The protection a patent confers depends on the territories it covers. There is no such thing as a patent that automatically takes effect worldwide.
The French patent
Granted by the INPI, the French patent protects the invention on French territory. It can serve as a first filing before any extension abroad within the applicable priority period.
The European patent
A European patent application follows a centralised procedure before the European Patent Office. Once granted, the proprietor may seek validation in the States of their choice or, where the conditions are met, opt for unitary effect.
The Unitary Patent
The Unitary Patent has uniform effect across the Member States participating in the system. That centralisation can simplify its management, but it also means that a decision on its validity may take effect throughout all the States covered.
The PCT international application
The PCT is not a worldwide patent. It is a procedure allowing an international application to be filed before pursuing the process before the national or regional offices selected.
After a first filing, the twelve-month priority period must be taken into account for any extensions contemplated. An opposition against a European patent must, as a rule, be filed within nine months of publication of the mention of its grant.
Would you like to audit a patent portfolio, secure a contract or defend an invention?
Bouchara & Avocats reviews your situation, identifies the deadlines and helps you compare the contractual, amicable and contentious options available.
Intellectual Property Lawyers Team
FAQ
How do you protect an invention developed with a partner?
An agreement must define each party’s background knowledge, ownership of the results, filing decisions, the allocation of costs, exploitation rights and the treatment of improvements. It must be signed before the collaboration produces significant results. The firm prepares these agreements and checks that they are consistent with the contracts entered into with the employees, suppliers and laboratories involved.
Can you act where a competitor’s patent appears too broad?
An overly broad patent can be challenged where the legal conditions are met. Depending on its stage and its nature, several routes may be considered: opposition before the EPO, an invalidity action, a declaration of non-infringement or limitation of the patent. A sense that the patent covers too much of a market is not enough: a precise legal basis must be identified and the relevant prior art assembled.
How is the loss caused by patent infringement assessed?
The assessment takes into account the lost profits and the losses sustained, moral prejudice and the profits made by the infringer. As an alternative, the court may award a lump sum higher than the royalties that would have been due had a licence been sought (French Intellectual Property Code, art. L. 615-7).
When should you bring proceedings before the UPC rather than a French court?
The choice depends on the nature of the patent, its status, the countries concerned and whether an opt-out has been filed. Disputes concerning a Unitary Patent fall within the jurisdiction of the UPC. For some classic European patents, the position has to be checked against the transitional regime and any proceedings already on foot. The firm analyses these parameters before recommending the appropriate forum and procedural strategy (UPC Agreement, arts. 32 and 83).
How should you prepare for a first meeting with a patent lawyer?
You can send us the patent concerned, the contracts, the relevant correspondence and the main deadlines. A short timeline of the project will also help us identify the priority points more quickly. All this technical and sensitive information is provided to us under the professional secrecy that attaches to exchanges with a lawyer.
