Soleau Envelope: advantages and disadvantages

Since December 2016, INPI (the French Patent Office) has offered the e-Soleau service, which allows you to file online a technical description of your invention for €15/10 MB. This is an opportunity to review some important points.

The Soleau envelope and the e-Soleau service are certified archiving solutions (duration: 5 years, renewable once) that allow you to prove the date of your invention and the fact that you are the inventor. The main advantage of these solutions is their attractive price compared to a bailiff's sealed document.

The objective is to be able to demonstrate prior personal possession (PPP) of the invention. Indeed, under French law, a patent holder cannot prohibit the exploitation of the invention covered by the patent by a person who can demonstrate PPP of the invention. However, it is important to carefully draft a technical description of the invention that is as detailed as possible in order to subsequently demonstrate PPP.

The major disadvantage of the Soleau envelope is the absence of any industrial property title being conferred. Thus, the Soleau envelope grants no exclusive right to exploit the invention. In other words, the Soleau envelope prevents neither the exploitation of the invention by a third party, nor the obtaining of a patent on the invention by a third party.

Consequently, there are few cases where filing a Soleau envelope appears advisable.

On the one hand, if your invention is important to your company's strategy, it is clear that filing a patent application is essential. On the other hand, if your invention is minor and you do not wish to exploit it directly, or indirectly through a licensee, it is probably more relevant to make it public in order to prevent a competitor from filing a patent application, which is impossible with a Soleau envelope.

Filing a Soleau envelope may be advisable in the case of an important invention that is not yet mature enough for a patent application filing.