The IP Pass (Pass PI) is an official French funding scheme run by the INPI (Institut National de la Propriete Industrielle, the French national intellectual property office, equivalent to the USPTO or the UKIPO). It supports SMEs that want to structure and grow their IP portfolio. The scheme covers up to 50 percent of the cost of qualifying IP services delivered by approved providers such as Dreyfus & Associés.
Reviewed by Nathalie Dreyfus, European Trademark and Patent Attorney, partner registered with the INPI regional delegations of Ile-de-France and Grand Est. Last updated: June 2026.
The INPI is the French national IP office. It examines and grants French patents, French trademarks and French designs. It also represents France at the EUIPO (EU trademarks and designs), the EPO (European patents) and WIPO (international filings).
The IP Pass is a strategic funding scheme that any non-French management team should know. It cuts the entry cost of IP protection in France for SMEs, including the local subsidiaries of foreign groups that qualify as SMEs under French criteria. For startups and SMEs, it can fund a first trademark filing strategy, a patent search, a freedom-to-operate analysis or a domain name protection plan.
The INPI IP Pass covers 50 percent of the cost of qualifying IP advisory and protection services delivered by approved providers. The remaining 50 percent stays at the charge of the company.
Source: INPI, official IP Pass scheme.
The IP Pass can finance up to three different services for a total amount of 10 000 euros, with up to 5 000 euros directly covered by the INPI subsidy.
Source: INPI, IP Pass eligibility rules.
The INPI is established by the French Intellectual Property Code (Code de la propriété intellectuelle). Article L.411-1 sets out its public service missions, including industrial property protection and advisory support to SMEs.
Source: Article L.411-1 of the French Intellectual Property Code.
The INPI runs regional delegations across all French regions. Each delegation manages the IP Pass application process locally. Dreyfus is registered with the Ile-de-France and Grand Est delegations.
Source: INPI regional network directory.
Three eligibility conditions must be met cumulatively to apply for the IP Pass.
Be a legal entity established in France with a commercial purpose, typically a SA (joint stock company), a SAS (simplified joint stock company) or a SARL (limited liability company). Foreign subsidiaries registered as French legal entities are eligible if they meet the other criteria.
Be an SME under the INSEE definition: fewer than 250 employees and either annual turnover not exceeding 50 million euros or balance sheet total not exceeding 43 million euros.
Independence test: less than 25 percent of share capital held by an entity that does not meet the SME criteria. This rule excludes subsidiaries of large groups in practice.
Compliance with EU State Aid de minimis rules applies, capping the cumulative subsidies received by the company over a rolling three-year period.
Inventory of IP assets, gap analysis and strategic protection plan adapted to the company size.
Availability search, conflict assessment, multi-class strategy and filing path at INPI, EUIPO and WIPO.
Patentability search, prior art analysis, freedom-to-operate review and patent landscape.
Design search, novelty review, multi-jurisdiction filing strategy at INPI, EUIPO and WIPO Hague System.
Mapping of brand-related domains, recovery strategy and online brand enforcement plan.
Drafting and review of licences, NDAs, assignments and joint ownership agreements.
We assess your eligibility and identify the most relevant IP services for your business stage and sector.
We jointly contact the competent INPI regional delegation, present the project and confirm the funding envelope.
We prepare the application file: KBIS, financial statements, shareholder structure, scope of services and proposed roadmap.
Submission to the INPI delegation. Approval is generally delivered within a few weeks, subject to budget availability.
Dreyfus delivers the IP services in line with the approved scope. Funded payment is processed directly via the INPI billing protocol.
Approved partner of the INPI for the IP Pass scheme. Twenty years of practice on IP strategy for French and international SMEs. Multi-jurisdictional fluency for groups based in the US, UK, India, China or Germany operating in France through a French subsidiary. End-to-end delivery: filings, advisory and litigation support after the IP Pass project.
The IP Pass is an official French funding scheme that covers up to 50 percent of the cost of qualifying intellectual property services for SMEs, with a maximum INPI contribution of 3,000 euros per service (for a maximum service cost of 6,000 euros), and a lifetime cap of 5,000 euros of total INPI subsidy per company across three separate passes. Services must be delivered by an approved provider such as Dreyfus & Associés.
Yes, provided the French subsidiary qualifies as an SME under INSEE criteria and the 25 percent independence rule is respected. In practice, French subsidiaries of large foreign groups are usually excluded by the independence test.
Strategic IP services including IP audits, trademark and design availability searches, patent prior art, freedom-to-operate, filing strategies and IP contract preparation. The exact perimeter is validated case by case with the INPI delegation.
Counting eligibility check, INPI contact, file preparation and approval, expect four to eight weeks before the project starts. Once approved, service delivery is typically planned over three to six months.
Yes, but de minimis State Aid rules cap the cumulative public funding received over three years. We coordinate with your tax counsel to optimise the combination of IP Pass, Research Tax Credit (Crédit d’Impôt Recherche) and the IP Box regime at 10 percent.
No, the IP Pass focuses on strategic protection and structuring. Litigation, enforcement and contentious matters are funded outside this scheme. We deliver these separately through our litigation and IP enforcement practice.
