Les faux-semblants du droit de l'inventeur ou l'examen clandestin des brevets d'invention dans la France de la Belle Époque

As an important issue of the debate on industrial property in nineteenth century France, the non examination of patents is considered as one of the singularities of the French patent system. It is the counterpart of the right of the inventor considered, despite the controversy, as a natural one. However, still in the early twentieth century, many patent applications are subject to a review conducted by the Comité consultatif des arts et manufactures. Analysis of these reports makes it possible to highlight the contradictions between the legal framework and practices of actors in industrial property. It shows the patent as a textual resource, object of multiple and contradictory interpretations, but also and especially as the index of practices and actors that a history of inventors must take into account.