What Is a “Saisie-Contrefaçon”? (Intellectual Property Seizure)
It is 9 o’clock in the morning. A company’s offices are just coming to life when a bailiff, accompanied by police officers and an expert, walks up to the reception desk, court order in hand. Within minutes, computers, commercial documents, and product samples are being examined, copied, and in some cases placed under seal. The operation, which can last the entire day, is intrusive, tightly regulated, and above all, unexpected.
This scene, striking as it may seem, illustrates one of the central procedures in intellectual property law: the saisie-contrefaçon. Behind this technical term lies a remarkably effective mechanism, often described as a “civil perquisition”, designed to address a fundamental challenge: how does one prove acts of infringement when the evidence is concealed or could vanish within hours?
Securing and Preserving Evidence Before Trial
The saisie-contrefaçon is an evidentiary measure, a tool designed to establish facts before a court has even ruled on the dispute. It enables a rights holder (an author, software publisher, trademark owner, or designer) to have a suspected infringement documented and the relevant evidence preserved for use at trial.
The seizure takes place at a preliminary stage, before any litigation on the merits. Its purpose is to freeze a disputed situation in an objective and legally enforceable manner.
This logic underlies two fundamental features of the procedure. First, it must be authorised (or refused) by a judge, who verifies that the application is grounded in existing rights and a credible suspicion of infringement. Second, it is carried out without notifying the party concerned. This absence of prior adversarial process is the very condition that ensures the element of surprise, and with it, the effectiveness of the measure. Should the judge refuse the application, the opposing party is not informed.
The Central Role of the Judge: A Strictly Defined Framework
Before any intervention can take place, the rights holder must file an ex parte application before the President of the civil court (tribunal judiciaire). They must demonstrate both that they hold protected rights and that those rights have in all likelihood been infringed — presenting at least a prima facie case.
If the judge is satisfied, an order is issued setting out the precise parameters of the operation: the premises to be visited, the items to be examined, the scope of permissible action (copying data, seizing products, calling on police assistance or technical expertise, approved search terms for investigating computer systems, treatment of documents covered by trade secrets). Every aspect must be defined and circumscribed. This rigour is what determines the validity of the seizure, which may be challenged if its limits have been exceeded. The role of the seized party’s lawyer will be to identify any procedural irregularities that could invalidate the seizure and, consequently, all subsequent proceedings.
A saisie-contrefaçon is, in essence, a surgical intervention: strictly limited to what the court has authorised.
One Tool, Many Applications
The strength of the saisie-contrefaçon lies in its adaptability to a wide variety of situations, while serving a single constant purpose: to establish, in concrete terms, that an intellectual property right has been infringed.
In copyright law, it is commonly used in cases of software infringement: files may be copied, digital media seized, and computer systems examined for the presence of cracked or unlicensed copies.
In trademark law, the procedure aims to document the use of a sign identical or similar to the applicant’s, to gauge the scale of the infringement, and to map the entire distribution chain. Counterfeit goods may be seized, commercial records examined, and supply flows traced. In this context, the saisie-contrefaçon functions almost as a commercial investigation tool, enabling rights holders to work back through distribution networks and identify all actors involved.
In the field of designs, the procedure allows for the photographing and physical preservation of samples of infringing products. In sectors such as fashion or industrial design, where copies circulate rapidly, swift action is often decisive.
The procedure is also available in cases involving patent infringement.
A Powerful Procedural Weapon — To Be Handled With Care
The saisie-contrefaçon is often described as a weapon that must be wielded with skill, lest it backfire.
For the rights holder, it offers a considerable advantage: access to evidence that would otherwise be unobtainable. It can also serve as a significant source of strategic pressure on the opposing party, particularly within the context of broader litigation.
But this strength has its counterpart. A poorly conducted seizure (or one obtained on insufficiently solid grounds) may be annulled, potentially invalidating the entirety of the proceedings that follow. It may also expose the applicant to liability. Strict compliance with the court order is essential, and the applicant must subsequently act promptly on the merits, failing which the measure may be declared lapsed and the evidence gathered rendered inadmissible. Finally, it is always possible to obtain no relevant result or to face an invocation of trade secrets.
In practice, the saisie-contrefaçon typically marks the opening move of contentious proceedings. It transforms a suspicion into concrete evidence. It also informs the strategy to be adopted going forward: whether to pursue litigation, negotiate a settlement, or, depending on the results, reconsider the case altogether.
LAZULI’s Experience in Saisie-Contrefaçon Matters
The firm has represented clients in the preparation of seizure applications and in overseeing the conduct of operations, working in coordination with bailiffs and IT experts.
It has also successfully challenged, before the courts, the validity of seizure orders and the regularity of the operations carried out under them.
This experience spans a range of sectors, including software, fashion, and kitchenware.
LAZULI offers transparent, cost-controlled fee estimates for the assessment of your situation and the analysis of your procedural options, advising you in a completely transparent manner on the relevance of proceeding with a seizure for counterfeiting or refraining from doing so.
Jérémie Leroy-Ringuet, April 2026
