In the field of intellectual property, filing refers to the administrative act of applying for protection to a competent Office (e.g., the INPI in France, the European Patent Office (EPO), or the WIPO, World Intellectual Property Organisation) to obtain exclusive rights to a creation or innovation. Filing allows the inventor, creator, company, or more generally the rights holder to officially register their intellectual property rights to benefit from the associated legal protection (patent, trademark, design, etc.).
Filing makes it possible to establish with certainty the date from which intellectual property rights are recognised. This filing date is used in particular to determine the prior existence of an invention, design, or trademark and serves to establish rights vis-à-vis third parties or competitors.
In summary, filing is the action that initiates the legal protection process for a creation in the field of intellectual property and provides a definite date.