A patent application must relate to a product or process that provides a new technical solution to a given technical problem. An idea cannot be patented if it has not been materialised.
Articles L611-10 al 2 and L611-16 et seq. of the French Intellectual Property Code list examples that are not considered patentable inventions, including scientific discoveries and theories, mathematical methods, aesthetic or ornamental creations (copyright or designs), plans, methods of non-technical activities (e.g. a method of learning a language, game rules, a management method ), computer programs alone (with rare exceptions, see our article on software law), plant varieties (protected by the Plant Variety Certificate), animal breeds, biological processes, inventions contrary to public policy and morality, the cloning of human beings, the use of embryos for industrial purposes, or human genetic sequences.
Thus, beyond these examples that cannot be considered as patentable inventions, any technical invention that meets the patentability criteria can be the subject of an application.
