A practice manual for renewing French trade mark registrations. France is generous at the front and unforgiving at the back. The window opens a full year before expiry, the longest in Europe, but relief after the six-month grace period is expressly excluded by regulation. The "restoration where all due care was taken" familiar from other European offices does not exist here.
1. At a glance
- System type
- Ten-year renewal cycle
- Anchor date
- Filing date
- Due date rule
- Tenth anniversary of the filing date
- Renewal window
- One year before expiry — the longest in Europe
- Grace period
- 6 months from the day after expiry, with a 50% surcharge
- Restoration
- Expressly excluded by regulation — the grace period is the end
- Fee (from July 2026)
- EUR 290 plus 40 per additional class
- Representation
- Proprietors outside the EU and EEA are exempt for renewal payment and declaration
- Deadline style
- The anniversary date itself, since the 2019 reform
- Risk level
- Caution
2. Anchor date and due-date calculation
The anchor is the filing date, and renewal falls due on its tenth anniversary itself. The deadline used to run to the end of the expiry month; the 2019 reform moved it to the anniversary date, so any source still saying month-end is out of date.
Worked example
For a registration filed 2020-06-15.
| Item | Formula | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Window opens | Expiry − 1 year | 2029-06-15 |
| Renewal due | Filing + 10 years | 2030-06-15 |
| Grace begins | The day after expiry | 2030-06-16 |
| Grace ends | Six months later, 50% surcharge | 2030-12-15 |
| Thereafter | No relief — refiling only | — |
3. The renewal window
- The window opens one year before expiry, the longest in Europe.
- Renewal completes on payment and requires no proof of use.
- Proprietors outside the EU and EEA must generally appoint a representative, but renewal payment and declaration are an express exception and can be handled without one.
- Classes may be dropped at renewal, reducing the per-class element accordingly.
- Where France is designated through an international registration, renewal goes to WIPO.
4. Grace period and surcharge
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Grace begins | The day after the expiry date |
| Grace period | 6 months |
| Surcharge | 50% of the renewal fee |
| If missed | The right lapses — relief is expressly excluded |
5. Lapse and restoration
After the six-month grace period the right lapses and no procedure revives it. Only refiling remains, and a third party who filed the same mark in the meantime comes first. Given a window of a full year, a missed deadline here is worth treating as a signal to review the docketing process.
6. Official fees
Fees as revised in July 2026, structured as a basic amount plus a per-class element.
| Item | Amount (EUR) |
|---|---|
| Renewal fee, basic | 290 |
| Each additional class | 40 |
| Grace surcharge | 50% of the total |
7. Where an EU mark is also held
Some clients hold the same mark both as a French national registration and as an EU trade mark. The two rights have different anchors and separate procedures, so their expiry dates differ and each must be renewed on its own. Renewing one does nothing for the other — keep the matters separate.
8. Management checklist
- The filing date, from which expiry is derived; the deadline is the anniversary itself, not month-end.
- There is no restoration — the end of grace is absolute.
- Begin client confirmation when the window opens a year before expiry, and use that lead time.
- The class count, given the per-class element on top of the basic fee.
- Whether the client also holds an EU mark, which is a separate right requiring its own renewal.
- Whether the case is a direct filing or a Madrid designation, since designations renew at WIPO.
Sources, cut-off date and disclaimer
This manual is based on iphere's August 2026 survey of country-by-country overseas maintenance rules, together with values produced by the deadline engine that runs on those same rules. Official fees and deadline rules change by office notice, so please confirm against the official source and your local agent before any actual payment or filing.