Patent attorneys from France represent roughly 34,000 patent applications per year. This is position 9 worldwide and rank 3 for European countries (behind Germany and the UK).
Over the time window from 2015 to 2019, PLASSERAUD IP was the first among the largest patent prosecution firms in France with close to 2,000 patent applications a year. They are number one in foreign filings (= filings of foreign priority, i.e. the first filing was done abroad), and number 2 for domestic filings (= first filing done in France). The firm is followed by CABINET BEAU DE LOMÉNIE and LAVOIX. All three firms show very similar volumes and change ranks from time to time.
REGIMBEAU and BREVALEX, the firms in positions 4 and 5 among the largest patent prosecution firms in France rank, keep their rank throughout the years.
In terms of domestic filings, LAVOIX is in the first position with more than 9,300 domestic filings. While PLASSERAUD IP and CABINET BEAU DE LOMÉNIE have a very balanced ratio between foreign and domestic filings (~40%), LAVOIX (as most other French firms) is strongly focusing on domestic filings with a foreign vs domestic ratio at just 4%. A very high domestic ratio can for example be found at MARKS & CLERK, IPSILON and CABINET BOETTCHER.
The top 3 accounts for more than 25% of the volume for the 50 largest firms and 50% are represented by 8 IP firms. This shows a notable degree of concentration.
Over time, the top 6 remained the same with some small changes in ranking while the evolutions are much larger for the rest of the firm in the top 30.
It is worth noting the strong growth in the last years for CABINET LLR, IP TRUST and INNOVATION COMPETENCE GROUP.
The ratio of PCT-based filings (PCT applications as well as PCT regional phase entries in Europe) is for most of the firms around 50%. Hence, roughly 50% are direct filings that do not involve a PCT (in France or abroad).