On Thursday, January 29, 2026, the French National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI), in conjunction with the Boards of Appeal of the EUIPO and the French Association of Trademark Attorneys (APRAM), hosted a conference dedicated to current developments in the EUIPO Boards of Appeal and the comparative analysis of trademark case law and the challenges related to the administration of evidence in administrative proceedings. The event brought together a particularly representative audience from the trademark ecosystem, including members of industrial property offices, judges, and intellectual property practitioners.

In his opening remarks, Pascal Faure, Director General of INPI, emphasized the richness of this diversity and the complementarity it allows between the different institutional actors, serving the users of the trademark protection system.

He specifically emphasized the importance of European cooperation and the convergence of practices: "This cooperation and the resulting overall coherence is a real asset; an asset first and foremost for Europe, for which we are engaged in extremely intense technological and sovereignty competition with other major international blocs."

This introduction was followed by a speech from Sven Stürmann, President of the Boards of Appeal of the EUIPO. He spoke of a key moment in strengthening relations between the EUIPO and the INPI, before presenting the main news from the Boards of Appeal.

The discussions then allowed for the discussion of several recent and significant decisions in French and European law, particularly regarding filing in bad faith, the cancellation of trademarks that have become generic or misleading, as well as a round table dedicated to the administration of evidence.

These themes fueled rich discussions, illustrating the common objective of meeting the expectations of economic actors in terms of stability and legal certainty.

The conference concluded with a speech by Anne-Sophie Frère-Barcelonne, president of APRAM, who emphasized the central role of dialogue between institutions and users in the strength of the European intellectual property ecosystem.

She stressed the importance of high-level legal expertise, guaranteeing legal certainty, business competitiveness and, more broadly, European economic sovereignty in a context of strong transformations, geopolitical pressures and increased international competition.

Source: https://www.inpi.fr//en/in-one/News-from-the-EUIPO-appeals-boards-and-cross-disciplinary-perspectives-on-the-administration-of-the