Declaration of “Sensitive” Inventions with the DGA: Clarified Procedure

Summary: the obligation to declare patent applications for “sensitive” inventions is not new. The practical arrangements have recently been indicated in a Decree and an Order, and whose practical implications for applicants are summarized below.

As a reminder, companies manufacturing: 

• War materials and defense weapons and ammunition in categories A (prohibited from acquisition and possession) and B (subject to authorization for acquisition and possession),¹
• Materials Subject to an export authorization,²
• Materials related to war materials or dual-use goods within the meaning of Regulation (EC) No 428/2009,³

are required to declare any filing of “sensitive” patent applications to the Directorate General of Armaments (Direction Générale de l’Armement – DGA) within 8 days of the filing date.⁴ The objective of such an obligation is to facilitate the work of the DGA in selecting inventions to be prohibited from disclosure, and to reduce the risk of disclosures that may threaten the interests of the Nation.⁵

Even though this obligation is not new (it already existed in 2004), the precise list of materials concerned⁶ and the practical modalities⁷ have only recently been clarified.

The inventions referred to can be both product and process inventions. The “sensitive” inventions may relate to non-traditional military domains such as software (in particular piloting software for military equipment, cryptographic software, etc.). They may also relate to dual-use goods, for example peacekeeping equipment, inventions in the nuclear domain, or materials that can be used to combat chemical or bacteriological threats.

The declaration is established directly by the applicant, and is filed with Intellectual Property and General Affairs Division (Sous-Direction de la Propriété intellectuelle et des Affaires générales – SDPA) of the DGA, either in writing or in a dematerialized manner via the Ministry of the Armed Forces (Ministère des Armées) website.

It is recommended to summarize the information in a table:

Thus, in most cases, only 2 numbers need to be provided. Any description of the invention should be avoided to prevent the risk of accidental disclosure or collusion. Employees of the DGA will study the invention in the INPI (French National Institute of Intellectual Property – Institut National de la Propriété Intellectuelle – INPI) offices, and will determine the relevance of a prohibition of disclosure for the invention.⁸

Generally, for inventions where the “non-sensitive” classification does not require a thorough review, the authorization for disclosure shall be issued within fifteen days of filing.⁹

REGIMBEAU’s staff – including Attorneys with Defense Security (Secret Défense) clearance – are available to analyze each particular situation and advise you in your best interests. 

 ¹ as defined in Articles L2331-1 of the Code de la Défense together with Article R311-2 of the Code de la Sécurité Intérieure (links in French only).
² as defined in the Arrêté du 4 mai 2017 relating to the obligation to declare the filing of patent applications concerning certain goods and materials, all the Articles L2335-2 of the Code de la Défense and the Arrêté du 27 juin 2012, relating to the list of war and related materials subject to a prior export authorization and defense related products to a prior transfer authorization (links in French only).
³ Council Regulation (EC) n° 428/2009 of 5 May 2009
⁴ Article L2332-6 of the Code of the Defense (link in French only).
⁵ In this respect, it is reminded that any European or International patent application for which the applicant’s place of residence or business is in France must be filed with the INPI, where no claim is made to priority under an earlier filing in France (Articles L614-2 and L614-18 of the Intellectual Property Code (IPC)). Any other type of filing is subject to authorization by the DGA (article R612-28 IPC).
⁶ Arrêté du 4 mai 2017 relating to the obligation to declare the filing of patent applications concerning certain goods and materials (link in French only)
⁷ 14 April 2017 Décret n°2017-553 (link in French only)
⁸ Articles L612-8 IPC and L612-9 IPC (links in French only)
REGIMBEAU’s staff – including Attorneys with Defense Security (Secret Défense) clearance – are available to analyze each particular situation and advise you in your best interests. In any case, without official return, this authorization is acquired as of right in a period of 4 months (European patent application, Article L614-4 CPI) or 5 months (international application or French patent application, articles L614-20 CPI and L612-9 CPI, respectively) as of the date of filing.