France was the first country to adopt a comprehensive system of trademark registration, introducing it in 1857.
The landmark measure was France’s Law of June 23, 1857, concerning manufacturers’ and commercial marks. It created a formal deposit procedure: applicants submitted representations of their marks to a commercial court, where records were kept and forwarded to the government. The system gave businesses a legal way to distinguish their goods and preserve evidence of ownership.
This milestone is sometimes confused with England’s much older marking requirements. In 1266, English bakers were required to place distinctive marks on bread, but that was a trade-identification rule rather than a modern, general registration system. Britain’s formal Trade Mark Registration Act followed in 1875, and the United States established its first federal trademark statute in 1870.
France’s 1857 framework was not identical to modern trademark law: registration initially had a largely declarative role, and marks were registered for a limited term. Later reforms expanded coverage, introduced examination, and eventually made registration central to acquiring trademark rights.