FRANCE Law and Practice Contributed by: Vanessa Bouchara, Adèle Maier and Louise Lacroix, Cabinet Bouchara
10.4 Ex Parte Relief The owner cannot obtain damages or other types of relief without initiating a procedure that necessitates notifying the defendant, followed by adversarial pro - ceedings that allow the defendant to defend itself. 10.5 Customs Seizures of Counterfeits or Parallel Imports At the request of the owner, customs authorities can retain products that they suspect to be counterfeit. The right-holders are immediately notified of such detention. The public prosecutor is also informed of the said measure by the customs administration. The right-holders then have a short amount of time to request destruction of the products, to initiate civil or criminal proceedings, or to file a complaint with the public prosecutor. For the purposes of initiating legal actions, the plain - tiff may obtain from the customs administration the names and addresses of the consignor, the importer, the consignee of the detained goods or their holder, as well as images of these goods and information on their quantity, origin, provenance and destination.
11.2 Timeframes for Appealing Trial Court Decisions The appeal must be filed within two months from the notification of the decision of first instance. The appeal proceeding normally lasts around a year and a half before a decision is issued.
12. Additional Considerations 12.1 Emerging Issues
Just as in many other countries around the world, French courts and offices are facing up to new issues relating to artificial intelligence and its impact on intel - lectual property. Should it be banned? Should it be regulated? Can a work generated using artificial intel - ligence tools be protected by copyright? No decisions on these issues have yet been made. 12.2 Trade Mark and Copyright Use on the Internet The French Statute LCEN of 21 June 2004 classifies different types of actors and their respective levels of liability, from the highest level of responsibility to the lowest, namely the publisher of the content, the host of the site, and the service provider. As regards inter - net service providers, they may be required to block counterfeiting content if actions against the publishers and hosts are unsuccessful.
11. Appeal 11.1 Appellate Procedure
Infringement decisions can be subject to an appeal before French courts of appeal and, more precise - ly, the court of appeal that has territorial jurisdiction depending on the court of first instance. The appeal is limited to the scope of the declaration of appeal filed by the appellant, combined with the scope of the cross-appeal filed by the respondent, if any.
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