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A.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
B. COMPANY PROFILE
Krispy Kreme is an international retailer of premium-quality sweet treats, including its
signature hot Original Glazed doughnut. Headquartered in Winston-Salem, NC, the
company has offered the highest-quality doughnuts and great-tasting coffee since it was
founded in 1937. Today, Krispy Kreme and its one-of-a-kind Hot Light can be found in
approximately 773 locations around the world. Currently, Krispy Kreme can be found in
21 countries, including the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Dominican
Republic, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines,
Puerto Rico, the Republic of Korea, Qatar, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Thailand,
Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.
Its market research indicates that Krispy Kremes breadth of appeal extends across all
major demographic groups, including age and income. In addition to their taste, quality
and simplicity, Krispy Kreme doughnuts are an affordable, indulgent sweet treat. Many
of its customers are accustomed to purchasing our doughnuts by the dozen for their
office, clubs and family.
The Krispy Kreme brand has several unique elements that have helped us create a
special bond with our customers. Our doughnuts, which are made from a secret recipe
that has been in our company since 1937, have a one-of-a kind taste that generations of
loyal customers have grown to love. Hot Doughnuts Now sign, when illuminated, is a
signal to customers that the signature product, hot Original Glazed doughnuts, is being
made. The Hot Doughnuts Now sign is a strong impulse purchase generator and an
integral contributor to our brands mystique. Krispy Kreme is also committed to strong
local community relationships. Store operators support their local communities through
our popular fundraising programs and the sponsorship of local events.
The vertically integrated, automated system is designed to create high quality,
consistent doughnuts in an efficient manner. Quality control starts with our
manufacturing plant, which produces proprietary Krispy Kreme mixes state-of-the-art
laboratory runs quality tests on all key ingredients and each batch of mix.
C. CULTURAL ANALYSIS
I. Brief discussion of the country's relevant history.
The land that today makes up the country of France has been settled for thousands of
years. In 600 BC, a portion of the Greek Empire settled in Southern France and founded
the city that is today Merseille, the oldest city in France. At the same time, Celtic Gauls
were becoming prominent in other areas of France. The Gauls would sack the city of
Rome in 390 BC. Later, the Romans would conquer Gaul and the area would become a
productive part of the Roman Empire until the 4th century.
In the 4th century, the Franks, which is where the name France comes from, began to
take power. In 768 Charlemagne united the Franks and began to expand the kingdom.
He was named the Holy Roman Emperor by the Pope and is today considered the
founder of both the French and German monarchies. The French monarchy would
continue to be a great power in Europe for the next 1000 years.

In 1792, the French Republic was proclaimed by the French Revolution. This didn't last
long, however, as Napoleon grabbed power and made himself Emperor. He then
proceeded to conquer most of Europe. Napoleon was later defeated and in 1870 the
Third Republic was declared.
During World War II France was defeated and occupied by the Germans. Allied forces
liberated the country in 1944 after four years of German rule. A new constitution was set
up by Charles de Gaulle and the Fourth Republic was formed. Since then more
changes have been made to France's government structure. France suffered greatly in
WWI and WWII.
II. Geographical setting.
A. Location.

France lies on the western edge of the European continent and shares borders with six
neighbours: Belgium and Luxembourg to the north, Germany and Switzerland to the
east, Italy to the southeast and Spain to the southwest. Thus it forms a bridge linking
northern and southern Europe and joining the countries in the central part of the
continent to those in the east. Its extensive coastline gives France a natural outlet
toward America and Africa.
The territory of France is compact and is often represented as a hexagon of which each
axis measures just under 1,000 km. With a total area of 550,000 sq. km., France ranks
as a medium-sized country on the world scale. However, it is the largest country in
Western Europe, bigger than Spain, Germany or the United Kingdom.
Because of its extensive network of modern communications, France is a real hub in
Europe. The eastern reaches of the country about the great industrial and urban area
stretching from the mouth of the Rhine to the plains of the Po River. It is also within
easy reach of the industrial centres of the United Kingdom and the other countries lying
on the North Sea. To the south it is an integral part of the Mediterranean arc running
from Catalonia to central Italy.
B. Climate.
France is a country with three climates. The climate with the smallest range is the
oceanic climate characterised by cool summers and winters though winters may get
very cold and ample rainfall. Eastern and central France mostly has continental climate
with ample rainfall, warm summers and cold, mostly snowy winters. Southern France
with its Mediterranean climate experiences limited rainfall, hot summers and cool
winters.


C. Topography.

France topographically is one of the most varied countries of Europe, with elevations
ranging from sea level to the highest peak of the continent, Mont Blanc (4,807 m/15,771
ft), on the border with Italy. Much of the country is ringed with mountains. In the
northeast is the Ardennes Plateau, which extends into Belgium and Luxembourg; to the
east are the Vosges, the high Alps, and the Jura Mountains; and along the Spanish
border are the Pyrenees, much like the Alps in ruggedness and height.
The core of France is the Paris Basin, connected in the southwest with the lowland of
Aquitaine. Low hills cover much of Brittany and Normandy. The old, worn-down upland
of the Massif Central, topped by extinct volcanoes, occupies the south-central area. The
valley of the Rhne (813 km/505 mi), with that of its tributary the Sane (480 km/298
mi), provides an excellent passageway from the Paris Basin and eastern France to the
Mediterranean.
There are three other main river systems: the Seine (776 km/ 482 mi), draining into the
English Channel; the Loire (1,020 km/ 634 mi), which flows through central France to
the Atlantic; and the Garonne (575 km/357 mi), which flows across southern France to
the Atlantic.
III. Political System
A. Political structure
The Government of France is a semi-presidential system, based on the French
Constitution of the fifth Republic. The nation declares itself as "an indivisible, secular,
democratic and social Republic" in the French Constitution of the fifth Republic.
The divisions of the national Government of France are the executive, legislative, and
judicial branch. The President of France possesses a degree of direct executive power.
His appointee, the Prime Minister has the maximum executive powers. When the
President chooses the Prime Minister, he must have the confidence of the National
Assembly. The National Assembly is the lower house of the Parliament. The Prime
Minister of France is always elected from the majority party of the lower house of the
Parliament.
The Parliament is made up of the National Assembly and the Senate. The various
functions of the Parliament include passing of statutes and votes on the budget. The
Parliament checks the various actions of the Executive through formal questioning on
the floors of the National Assembly and the Senate.
The Constitutional Council checks the constitutionality of the statutes. The President of
the Republic, the President of the Senate and the President of the National Assembly
appoint the members of this body.
B. Political parties
French politics are characterised by two politically opposed groupings: one Left-wing
centred around the French Socialist Party and the other Right-wing and centred
previously around the Rassemblement pour la Rpublique (RPR) and now its successor
the neo-Gaullist Union for a Popular Movement (UMP). For the first time in the history of
the Fifth Republic, since June 2012 the Socialist grouping holds all three elected arms
of government: the Presidency, the National Assemby and the Senate.
In France, unlike most other democracies, the majority of national politicians are former
civil servants (often high-ranking). Most Presidents, many Cabinet members and a very
large number of parliament members graduated from the same prestigious school, the
Ecole Nationale d'Administration.
The French take their politics seriously and voter participation is very high (it was
79.48% in the 2012 Presidential election).
C. Stability of government
France's government is stable. Members of the lower house of parliament (the
Assemble Nationale) are elected just after the presidential elections and for the same
period of time, five years. The president's party (whatever it is) usually wins a majority
by itself, meaning that it is does not have to bow to coalition associates.
D. Special taxes
In France, taxes are levied by the government, and collected by the public
administrations. French "public administrations" are made up of three different
institutions:
the central government, i.e. the national government or the state ("l'tat") strictly
speaking, plus various central government bodies. It has a separate budget (general
budget, special Treasury accounts, special budgets). It collects most of the taxes.
local governments, which include agencies with limited territorial jurisdiction, such as
local authorities, local public establishments, chambers of commerce and all public
or quasi-public bodies financed primarily by local governments. They collect many
taxes, but their weight is rather limited compared to that of central government.
social security association (ASSO), is private organizations endowed with a mission
of public service (even though they behave to a large extent like public
administrations). Their budget is made up of all mandatory social security funds
(general scheme, unemployment insurance schemes, complementary retirement
funds and welfare benefit funds, funds for the liberal professions and agricultural
funds, special employee schemes) and the agencies financed by such funds (social
works, public and private sector hospitals contributing to public hospital services and
financed from an aggregate operating grant). They are mostly financed by social
contributions, collected for the sole purpose of social welfare.
Taxes in France are made up of taxes in the narrow meaning of the word, plus social
security contributions. Most of the taxes are collected by the government and the local
collectivities, while the social deductions are collected by the Social Security. There is a
distinction to be made between taxes (impts), which applies to production,
importations, wealth and incomes, and social contributions (cotisations sociales), which
are part of the total wage paid by an employer when he remunerates an employee.
Taxes and contributions together are called in French prlvements
obligatoires (compulsory deductions).
Subject to French tax are people having their tax domicile in France, i.e. natural or legal
persons either living in France, i.e. who have their homes or their principal residence in
France; working in France; having the center of their economic interests in France. Only
one of these criteria is sufficient for a person to be treated as taxable.
Despite a downward trend registered since 1999, the tax burden in 2007 (43.3% of
GDP) remains at a high level, both historically and in comparison with other countries.
OECD countries have experienced an increase in the tax burden since the mid-60s
comparable to that of France, rising from 25% of the GDP in 1965 to 36% in 2005. That
of the countries of the European Union has increased by nearly 12 percentage points of
GDP over the period. Efforts to control the increase in the tax burden have been made
by the states of the OECD: the tax rate decelerated during the 90s and has decreased
slightly since 2000. This is why France continues to be among the OECD countries
whose tax rate is the highest. Taxes account for 45% of GDP against 37% on average
in OECD countries. The overall rate of social security and tax on the average wage in
2005 was 71.3% of gross salary, the highest of the OECD. The levels of social security
contributions are particularly high (16.3% of revenue against 9.4% in average for
OECD). The social security budgets are larger than the budget of the national
government. The budgets of both the national government and of social security
organizations run deficits.
Taxes on production and importation
These taxes, collected by public administrations or by the institutions of the EU, apply to
the production and the consumption of goods and of services. These taxes are
independent from profits. They include taxes on the products and others taxes on the
production. The taxes on the production cover essentially the taxe professionnelle, the
taxe foncire and the versement transport (the professional tax, tax land and the
payment transport), which apply to the use of labour and the property or the use of land,
buildings and other assets used for the sake of production. They are local taxes, so they
are not collected by the central government (see Local taxes). Taxes on consumption
traditionally consisted of indirect duties on the consumption and excise duties, applying
only on the use of certain products (alcoholic beverages, manufactured, tobacco
products and energy products). However, the establishment of the VAT and its
generalization have considerably reduced the scope and thus the revenue of these
indirect duties and excise duties even if one of them, the tax on petroleum products, is
still considerable. The revenue from the excise duties amounted in 2007 to 2.7 bn,
without the TIPP.
Value-Added Tax (VAT)
In order to establish a single market made up of the member states of the European
Union, a number of directives on VAT has been enacted since 1967, with the obligation
for states to adapt their domestic legislation. The rules relating to the scope, the tax
base, the payment, the territoriality of goods and services as well as reporting
requirements are partially harmonized, but states can apply transitional arrangements in
respect of rates, exemptions and rights of deduction, whose rules are being
harmonized.
The VAT is a general consumption tax, which applies to goods and services located in
France. It is a proportional tax on output collected by the companies and ultimately
completely supported by the final buyer, i.e. the consumer, since it is included in the
price of goods or services. Indeed, VAT is applied to the "added value", i.e. the added
value to the product or service at each stage of production or marketing, so that at the
end of the economic circuit, the overall tax burden corresponds to the tax calculated on
the final price paid by the consumer. The current standard rate is at 19.6%. Two
reduced rates exist: a 7% rate for books and restaurant meals, and 5.5% for most
groceries. A specific rate of 2.1% applies only to prescription drugs covered by Social
Security. The net revenue of VAT in 2008 is 126 bn.
E. Role of local government
Historically, government authority in France has been highly centralized. For centuries
the French monarchy sought to centralize economic and military power to control
rebellious members of the nobility in the provinces. The French Revolution of 1789
dismantled the monarchy but retained a highly centralized national administration,
centered in Paris. Today this system remains largely in place. Reforms introduced in
recent decades have transferred some powers to local authorities, but many of Frances
major policy decisions are still made in the nations capital.
Under pressure from growing demands for increased regional and local control, the
French government took some steps toward decentralization of authority in the 1960s
and 1970s. One important step, in 1970, was the creation of 22 administrative regions.
Then, in 1982, President Francois Mitterrand initiated a major effort to transfer real
decision-making powers and budgetary authority to locally elected officials. Since then,
regional and local governments have gradually gained control over a range of
economic, social, and cultural matters.
There are three levels of government below the national level: the 22 regions, 96
departments, and more than 36,000 communes. The communes, which are the smallest
units of local government, range in size from tiny villages to sections of large
metropolitan areas. At the next level of government are the departments, many of which
take their names from mountains, rivers, and other local geographical features. The
departments are grouped into regions, the top level of subnational government. Each
region, department, and commune has a directly elected council and executive.
The commune, an important component of French democracy, dates to pre-
Revolutionary France. Each commune has a mayor and municipal council. The mayor,
who is elected by the council, is responsible for preparing meetings of the council and
for implementing its decisions. For certain purposes, including registration of births,
marriages, and deaths, the mayor also represents the national government. The council
determines the communes budget and local taxes and makes decisions regarding
municipal services. Individual communes often band together to provide certain
municipal services cooperatively. Before 1982 communes were strictly supervised by
representatives of the national government.
Departments vary in population from tens of thousands of people to more than 2 million.
Each department is administered by a general council, which elects its own president.
The council votes for a budget; provides departmental services, such as health and
welfare; and drafts local regulations. A representative of the national government
attends council meetings and is authorized to take steps to ensure public order, safety,
and security. Before 1982, a prefect appointed by the national government exercised
extensive authority within the department and played a key role in centralizing decision-
making authority in the hands of the national government. Today the powers of the
prefect are limited to ensuring that departmental policies do not conflict with national
legislation.
The regions correspond roughly to Frances historic provinces. The primary focus of
regional government is economic and social planning. Compared to the other levels of
subnational government, the regions deliver few services to residents and employ few
public officials. Each region is administered by an elected regional council. The
president of the council, elected by the council from among its members, serves as the
regions executive. A representative appointed by the national government speaks on
behalf of the national government at council meetings and directs national government
services in the region.
The city of Paris, the capital and seat of the most important national institutions, was
formerly administered under a system designed to ensure tight central control. There
was no mayor. Instead, a prefect of Paris and a prefect of the police, both appointed by
the national government, exercised control. Under legislation passed in 1975, Paris
became a department governed like any other, except that supervision of the police
continued under a prefect appointed by the central government. Paris was permitted to
have a municipal administration, similar to other French cities, with a mayor chosen by
an elected council. The membership of the council, known as the Conseil de Paris, is
determined by elections in 20 arrondissements (districts). In 1977 Jacques Chirac
became the first mayor of Paris under the Fifth Republic.
IV. Legal system
A. Organization of the judiciary system
There are two types of lower judicial courts in France, the civil courts (471 tribunaux
d'instance and 181 tribunaux de grande instance in 1985, including overseas There are
two types of lower judicial courts in France, the civil courts (471 tribunaux d'instance
and 181 tribunaux de grande instance in 1985, including overseas departments) and the
criminal courts (tribunaux de police for petty offenses such as parking violations,
tribunaux correctionnels for criminal misdemeanors). The function of the civil courts is to
judge conflicts arising between persons; the function of the criminal courts is to judge
minor infractions (contraventions) and graver offenses (dlits) against the law. The most
serious crimes, for which the penalties may range to life imprisonment, are tried in
assize courts (cours d'assises); these do not sit regularly but are called into session
when necessary. They are presided over by judges from the appeals courts. In addition,
there are special commercial courts (tribunaux de commerce), composed of judges
elected among themselves by tradesmen and manufacturers, to decide commercial
cases; conciliation boards (conseils de prud'hommes), made up of employees and
employers, to decide their disputes; and professional courts with disciplinary powers
within the professions. Special administrative courts (tribunaux administratifs) deal with
disputes between individuals and government agencies. The highest administrative
court is the Council of State (Conseil d'tat).
From the lower civil and criminal courts alike, appeals may be taken to appeals courts
(cours d'Appel), of which there were 27 in 2003. Judgments of the appeals courts and
the courts of assize are final, except that appeals on the interpretation of the law or
points of procedure may be taken to the highest of the judicial courts, the Court of
Cassation in Paris. If it finds that either the letter or spirit of the law has been
misapplied, it may annual a judgment and return a case for retrial by the lower courts.
The High Court of Justice (Haute Cour de Justice), consisting of judges and members of
parliament, is convened to pass judgment on the president and cabinet members if a
formal accusation of treason or criminal behavior has been voted by an absolute
majority of both the National Assembly and the Senate. The death penalty was
abolished in 1981.
The Conseil Constitutionnel, created by the 1958 Constitution, is now the only French
forum available for constitutional review of legislation. Challenges to legislation may be
raised by the president of the republic, the prime minister, the president of the Senate,
the president of the National Assembly, sixty senators, or sixty deputies of the National
Assembly during the period between passage and promulgation (signature of
president). Once promulgated, French legislation is not subject to judicial review.
The French judiciary is fully independent from the executive and legislative branches.
The judiciary is subject to European Union mandates, which guide national law. This
has been the case in the Court of Cassation since 1975, in the Council of State since
1989, and now even in the civil courts.
B. Code, common, socialist, or Islamic-law country
The Napoleonic Code or Code Napolon (the official name being the Code civil des
franais) is the French civil code established under Napolon I in 1804. The code
forbade privileges based on birth, allowed freedom of religion, and specified that
government jobs should go to the most qualified.
It was drafted rapidly by a commission of four eminent jurists and entered into force on
21 March 1804. The Code, with its stress on clearly written and accessible law, was a
major step in replacing the previous patchwork of feudal laws. Historian Robert Holtman
regards it as one of the few documents that have influenced the whole world.
The Napoleonic Code was not the first legal code to be established in a European
country with a civil legal system; it was preceded by the Codex Maximilianeus bavaricus
civilis (Bavaria, 1756), the Allgemeines Landrecht (Prussia, 1794), and the West
Galician Code (Galicia, then part of Austria, 1797). It was, however, the first modern
legal code to be adopted with a pan-European scope, and it strongly influenced the law
of many of the countries formed during and after the Napoleonic Wars.
Napoleonic reforms
Napoleon set out to reform the French legal system in accordance with the ideas of the
French Revolution, because the old feudal and royal laws seemed confusing and
contradictory to the people. Before the Code, France did not have a single set of laws;
law consisted mainly of local customs, which had sometimes been officially compiled in
"customals" (coutumes), notably the Coutume de Paris. There were also exemptions,
privileges, and special charters granted by the kings or other feudal lords. During the
Revolution, the last vestiges of feudalism were abolished.
Specifically, as to civil law, the many different bodies of law used in different parts of
France were to be replaced by a single legal code. Leading this drafting process was
Jean Jacques Rgis de Cambacrs. His drafts of 1793 (for which he had been given a
one month deadline), 1794, and 1799, however, were adopted only piecemeal by a
National Convention more concerned about the turmoil resulting from the various wars
and strife with other European powers.
A fresh start was made after Napoleon came to power in 1799. A commission of four
eminent jurists was appointed in 1800, including Louis-Joseph Faure and chaired by
Cambacrs (now Second Consul), and sometimes by First Consul Napoleon himself.
After intensive scrutiny by the Council of State, by 1801 the Code was complete, but
was not published until 21 March 1804. Promulgated as the "Civil Code of the French"
(code civil des Franais), it was renamed "the Napoleonic Code" (code Napolon) from
1807 to 1815, and once again under the Second French Empire.
Developed mainly out of the various customals, the process was inspired by Justinian's
sixth-century codification of Roman law, the Corpus Iuris Civilis and, within that,
Justinian's Code (Codex). The Napoleonic Code, however, differed from Justinian's in
important ways: it incorporated all kinds of earlier rules, not only legislation; it was not a
collection of edited extracts, but a comprehensive rewrite; its structure was much more
rational; it had no religious content; and it was written in the vernacular.
The development of the Napoleonic Code was a fundamental change in the nature of
the civil law system, making laws clearer and more accessible. It also superseded the
former conflict between royal legislative power and, particularly in the final years before
the Revolution, protests by judges representing views and privileges of the social
classes to which they belonged. Such conflict led the Revolutionaries to take a negative
view of judges making law.
This is reflected in the Napoleonic Code prohibiting judges from deciding a case by way
of introducing a general rule (Article 5), since the creation of general rules is an exercise
of legislative and not of judicial power. In theory, there is thus no case law in France.
However, the courts still had to fill the gaps in the laws and regulations and, indeed,
were prohibited from refusing to do so (Article 4). Moreover, both the codes and
legislation have required judicial interpretation. In these ways, a vast body of judicially-
created law (jurisprudence) has come into existence, and while there is no rule of stare
decisis (binding precedent), the decisions by important courts have become more-or-
less equivalent to case law (see jurisprudence constante).

Contents of the Napoleonic Code
The preliminary article of the Code established certain important provisions regarding
the rule of law. Laws could be applied only if they had been duly promulgated, and then
only if they had been published officially (including provisions for publishing delays,
given the means of communication available at the time). Thus, no secret laws were
authorized. It prohibited ex post facto laws (i.e. laws that apply to events that occurred
before their introduction). The code also prohibited judges from refusing justice on
grounds of insufficiency of the law, thereby encouraging them to interpret the law. On
the other hand, it prohibited judges from passing general judgments of a legislative
value.
With regard to family, the Code established the supremacy of the man over the wife and
children, which was the general legal situation in Europe at the time. A woman was
given fewer rights than a minor. Divorce by mutual consent was actually abolished for
women in 1804, a backward step.
Other French codes of Napoleon's era
Penal code
In 1791, Louis Michel le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau presented a new criminal code to the
national Constituent Assembly.[4] He explained that it outlawed only "true crimes", and
not "phony offenses created by superstition, feudalism, the tax system, and despotism".
He did not list the crimes "created by superstition" (meaning the Christian religion), but
these certainly included blasphemy, heresy, sacrilege, and witchcraft. All these former
offenses were swiftly decriminalized. In 1810, a new criminal code was issued under
Napoleon. As with the Penal Code of 1791, it did not contain provisions against religious
crimes.
Code of civil procedure
As the entire legal system was being overhauled, the code of civil procedure was
adopted in 1806.
Commercial code
The commercial code (code de commerce) was adopted in 1807.[6]
The French codes in the 21st century
The French codes, now more than forty in number, are frequently amended, as well as
judicially re-interpreted. Therefore, for over a century all of the codes in force have been
documented in the annually-revised editions published by Dalloz (Paris, France).These
editions consist of thorough annotations, with references to other codes, relevant
statutes, judicial decisions (even if unpublished), and international instruments. The
basic version of the Civil Code in this form is nearly 3,000 pages, whilst the extended
version is in both written form and on CD-ROM. Dalloz editor, Serge Guinchard,
constructed the civil procedure versions in 1999 and 2001.
C. Participation in patents, trademarks, and other conventions.

European Union patent
The European Union patent (EU patent), formally European patent with unitary effect,
also known as the unitary patent, Community patent, European Community Patent, or
EC patent and sometimes abbreviated as COMPAT, is a proposed patent legislation in
the European Union, which would allow individuals and companies to obtain a unitary
patent throughout the European Union, with the exception of Croatia, Italy and Spain.
During the European Council of 2829 June 2012, agreement was reached on its
provisions between 25 of the then 27 member states of the European Union. Italy and
Spain had decided not to take part as a result of the proposed language scheme, which
uses English, German and French at the exclusion of other languages. (Croatia
subsequently acceded to the EU in July 2013.) The necessary EU legislation for
enhanced co-operation was approved by the European Parliament on 11 December
2012, and entered into force in January 2013. The provisions will apply once the related
Agreement on a Unified Patent Court, which was signed by all EU member states
except Croatia, Poland and Spain, enters into force, on or after 1 January 2014.
The proposed EU patent is closely related, but different from the European patent,
which is granted under the 38-state European Patent Convention. European patents,
once granted, become a "bundle of nationally enforceable patents", in the states which
are designated by the applicant. The EU patent would, once established, be designated
after granting of the European patent, with validity in all participating countries. The
system reduces translation requirements (by focusing on the three languages of the
European patent: German, English and French), maintenance fees (with a single fee for
the whole area) and provides for judicial procedures for a court with effect in all
countries.
French Intellectual Property Code
The French Intellectual Property Code (French: Code de la proprit intellectuelle), is a
corpus of law relating to intellectual and industrial property. It was formalised by Law No
92-597 of 1 July 1992, replacing earlier laws relating to industrial property and artistic
and literary property.
The code is frequently modified: two major modifications are known as the DADVSI law
and the HADOPI law.
Community Trade Mark
The Community Trade Mark (CTM) system offers trademark owners a unified system of
protection throughout the European Union (EU) with the filing of a single application. If
successful, this one application results in a CTM registration that is recognized in all
countries of the EU.
The Madrid Protocol
The Madrid Protocol of 1989 ("Protocol" and, for purposes of this Fact Sheet, MP)
removes certain difficulties that were preventing some countries from adhering to the
previous system of international registration of marks created by the Madrid Agreement.
The Madrid Protocol allows the owner of a live application or registration in a member
country (the "home" application or registration) to obtain an International Registration
(IR) designating as many member countries as it chooses by filing one application in
one language, with the home application or registration as the basis for the IR.
The IR is like a bundle of national registrations. The mark is examined in each country
designated and, if it is not rejected in a country, that country becomes part of the IR.
If the home application or registration is cancelled or abandoned within the first five
years of the IR, then the IR, including all of the member country extensions, also will be
cancelled or invalidated (this is referred to as a central attack). As discussed below, if
the IR is canceled or invalidated, the IR may in some cases be transformed into
separate national applications.
Foreign Relations
France is a member of the United Nations and serves as one of the permanent
members of the UN Security Council with veto rights.

It is also a member of
the G8, World Trade Organization(WTO), the Secretariat of the Pacific
Community (SPC)

and the Indian Ocean Commission (COI).

It is an associate member
of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS)

and a leading member of the International
Francophone Organisation (OIF) of fifty-one fully or partly French-speaking countries.
France hosts the headquarters of the OECD,UNESCO,

Interpol,

Alliance Base

and
the International Bureau for Weights and Measures.

France has the second largest
network of diplomatic missions in the world, second only to the USA. In 1953, France
received a request from the United Nations to pick a coat of arms that would represent it
internationally. Thus the French emblem was adopted and is currently used on
passports.
Postwar French foreign policy has been largely shaped by membership of the European
Union, of which it was a founding member. Since the 1960s, France has developed
close ties with reunified Germany to become the most influential driving force of the EU.
In the 1960s, France sought to exclude the British from the European unification
process, seeking to build its own standing in continental Europe. However since 1904,
France has maintained an "Entente cordiale" with the United Kingdom, and there has
been a strengthening of links between the countries, especially on a military level.
France is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), but under
President de Gaulle, it excluded itself from the joint military command to protest
the special relationship between the United States and Britain and to preserve the
independence of French foreign and security policies. France vigorously opposed
the 2003 invasion of Iraq, straining bilateral relations with the US

and the UK. However,
as a result of Nicolas Sarkozy's (much criticised in France by the leftists and by a part of
the right) pro-American politics, France rejoined the NATO joint military command on 4
April 2009.
In the early 1990s, the country drew considerable criticism from other nations for its
underground nuclear tests in French Polynesia.
France retains strong political and economic influence in its former African
colonies (Franafrique) and has supplied economic aid and troops for peace-keeping
missions in Cte d'Ivoire and Chad.

Recently, after the unilateral declaration of
independence of northern Mali by the Tuareg MNLA and the subsequent regional
conflict with several Islamist groups including Ansar Dine and MOJWA, France and
other African states intervened to help the Malian Army to retake control.
In 2009, France was the second largest (in absolute numbers) donor of development
aid in the world, behind the US, and ahead of Germany, Japan and the UK. This
represents 0.5% of its GDP, in this regard rating France as tenth largest donor on the
list. The organisation managing the French help is the French Development Agency,
which finances primarily humanitarian projects in sub-Saharan Africa. The main goals of
this help are "developing infrastructure, access to health care and education, the
implementation of appropriate economic policies and the consolidation of the rule of law
and democracy."
V. Social organizations.
A. Social classes.
Social class in France
The modern social structure in France started in the late 1950s and is based on three
distinct classes.
The first and highest class is made up of the high level politicians, the wealthy
families and the also powerful business owners. Such examples are the former
people of their family in order to gain a jinshi position, President Jacques Chirac,
and the CEO of Airbus Nol Forgeard.
Following the higher class people, the middle class group comprises two different
types of white-collar jobs. Senior executives of companies and the groups in
which the professional jobs are included which include high income and are more
or less stable.
The lower class comprises blue-collar jobs where many people are in food-
service jobs or work in retail. The unemployment level and the low living
standards are very common in this group. Due to the shift to industry, the number
of blue-collar jobs has decreased and the workforce in the civil service section
has steadily increased.
B. Race, ethnicity, and subcultures
As of 2004, French think-tank Institut Montaigne estimated that there were 51 million
(85%) white people or European origin, 6 million (10%) North African people, 2 million
(3.5%) Black people and 1 million (1.5%) people of Asian origin in Metropolitan France,
including all generations of immigrant descendants.
The modern ethnic French are the descendants of Celts, Iberians, Ligurians, Italic tribes
(including Romans) and Greeks in southern France, later mixed with large group of
Germanic peoples arriving at the end of the Roman Empire such as the Franks the
Burgundians, Alamanni and Goths, very small portions of Moors and Saracens in the
south, and Scandinavians, Vikings who became, by mixing with the local population, the
Normans and settled mostly in Normandy in the 9th century.
Due to a law dating from 1872, the French Republic prohibits performing census by
making distinction between its citizens regarding their race or their beliefs.
Some organizations, such as the Representative Council of Black Associations (French:
Conseil reprsentatif des associations noires de France, CRAN), have argued in favour
of the introduction of data collection on minority groups but this has been resisted by
other organizations and ruling politicians,[33][34] often on the grounds that collecting
such statistics goes against France's secular principles and harks back to Vichy-era
identity documents. During the 2007 presidential election, however, Nicolas Sarkozy
was polled on the issue and stated that he favoured the collection of data on ethnicity.
Part of a parliamentary bill which would have permitted the collection of data for the
purpose of measuring discrimination was rejected by the Conseil Constitutionnel in
November 2007.
However, that law does not concern surveys and polls, which are free to ask those
questions if they wish. The law also allows for an exception for public institutions such
as the INED or the INSEE whose job it is to collect data on demographics, social trends
and other related subjects, on condition that the collection of such data has been
authorized by the National Commission for Computer-stocked data and Freedom (CNIL)
and the National Council of Statistical Information (CNIS).
Of European ethnic groups not indigenous to France, the most numerous are people of
Italian family origin and it is estimated that about 5 million citizens (8% of the population)
are at least partly of Italian origin if their parentage is retraced over three generations.
This is due to waves of Italian immigration, notably during the late 19th century and
early 20th century. Other large European groups of non-native origin are Spaniards,
Portuguese, Polish, and Greeks. Also, due to more recent immigration, between five
and six million people of Maghrebi origin and approximately 200,000 Turks inhabit
France.[citation needed] An influx of North African Jews immigrated to France in the
1950s and after the Algerian War due to the decline of the French empire. Subsequent
waves of immigration followed the Six-Day War, when some Moroccan and Tunisian
Jews settled in France. Hence, by 1968, North African Jews were about 500,000 and
the majority in France. As these new immigrants were already culturally French they
needed little time to adjust to French society. Black people come from both the French
overseas territories (French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Runion, and former
colony Haiti) and Sub-Saharan Africa (especially Cote d'Ivoire, Mali, and Senegal).
France has the largest black population in Europe.
Solis, a marketing company, recently estimated the numbers for ethnic minorities
(immigrants and 2nd generation) in France in 2009 as 3.26 million Maghrebis (5.23%),
1.83 million Black people (2.94%, 1.08 million Sub-Saharan Africans and 757,000
French from French West Indies) and 250,000 Turkish (0.71%).
C. Business customs and practices
DRESS
French people value looking good and have a keen sense of style.
For men: conservative yet stylish suits with shirts and ties.
For women: stylish business suits or dresses and blouses. Accessories are
usually worn.
Parisians are known for their sense of classy style and most men and women
wear suits to work in the city.
Professors and teachers often wear jeans to work.
TITLES AND BUSINESS CARDS
Titles are important and it is best to address people directly by using Mr., Mrs., or
Miss, followed by the surname. Note: "Monsieur" is for Mr, "Madame" is Mrs. and
"Mademoiselle" is Miss.
You should always wait to be invited to use first names before doing so yourself.
There is no specific protocol surrounding the giving and receiving of business
cards. It is always best to treat the card with respect.
MEETINGS
Arriving on time for a meeting is important. Punctuality is valued.
Business meetings tend to be structured but not overly formal, beginning and
ending with a bit of small talk. However, it is best to wait to be told where to sit.
The main purpose of meetings are to discuss, not to make decisions.
NEGOTIATIONS
It is best to remain cool and professional; avoid any sort of confrontation and do
not resort to hard sell tactics.
The French tend to take time when negotiating. Do not rush them or appear
impatient. Expect a great deal of time to be spent reviewing details before a final
decision is made.
Decisions tend to be made from the top down.
GIFT GIVING
Gifts are not generally exchanged at initial business meetings.
When invited over for dinner or a drink, you should always bring the hostess a
gift, either a bottle of high quality wine or a dessert is acceptable.
Gifts tend to be opened when received.
VI. Languages
A. Official language(s)
According to Article 2 of the Constitution, the official language of France is French, a
Romance language derived from Latin. Since 1635, the Acadmie franaise is France's
official authority on the usage, vocabulary, and grammar of the French language,
although its recommendations carry no legal power.
The French government does not regulate the choice of language in publications by
individuals but the use of French is required by law in commercial and workplace
communications. In addition to mandating the use of French in the territory of the
Republic, the French government tries to promote French in the European Union and
globally through institutions such as La Francophonie. The perceived threat from
anglicisation has prompted efforts to safeguard the position of the French language in
France. Besides French, there exist 77 vernacular minority languages of France, eight
spoken in French metropolitan territory (in continental Europe) and 69 in the French
overseas territories.
From the 17th century to the mid-20th century, French served as the pre-eminent
international language of diplomacy and international affairs as well as a lingua franca
among the educated classes of Europe. The dominant position of French language in
international affairs has only been challenged recently by English, since the emergence
of the USA as a major power. Paradoxically, for most of the time period in which French
served as an international lingua franca, it was not the native language of most
Frenchmen: a 1794 report conducted by Henri Grgoire found that of the country's 25
million people, only three million spoke French natively; the rest spoke one of the
country's many regional languages, such as Alsatian, Breton or Occitan. Through the
expansion of public education (particularly from the late 19th century onward), in which
French was the sole language of instruction, as well as other factors such as increased
urbanization and the rise of mass communication, French gradually came to be adopted
by virtually the entire population, a process not completed until the 20th century.
As a result of France's extensive colonial ambitions between the 17th and 20th
centuries, French was introduced to America, Africa, Polynesia, South-East Asia, and
the Caribbean. French is the second most studied foreign language in the world after
English, and is a lingua franca in some regions, notably in Africa. The legacy of French
as a living language outside Europe is mixed: it is nearly extinct in some former French
colonies (Southeast Asia), while creoles, and pidgins based on French have emerged in
the French departments in the West Indies and the South Pacific (French Polynesia).
On the other hand, many former French colonies have adopted French as an official
language, and the total number of French speakers is increasing, especially in Africa.
It is estimated that between 300 million and 500 million people worldwide can speak
French, either as a mother tongue or a second language.
B. Spoken versus written languages
Besides words being pronounced so different from how they are spelled, spoken and
written French are quite different even when you transcribe the spoken language. For
example the dropping of "ne", elision (j'veux'). While that happens in English I get the
impression it's more common in French.
Most languages with phonetic alphabets pronounce the words as they are spelled, from
what I know (the English words which aren't... are from French)
C. Dialect
When referring to French dialects it is important to distinguish between variations of
standard French, which are spoken in various parts of France as well as other parts of
the world, and the regional or minority languages, which are spoken in other parts of
France and are linguistically separate from the French language.
The historical linguistic background of the French language is based on the languages
referred to as the Langues dOl, which were the Gallo-Romance languages and the
languages of the Gauls of northern France, as opposed to the Langues dOc the
Romance and Occitan languages of southern France, Spain and parts of Italy.

Modern standard French is mainly based on the Langues dOl, as are the French
variations, which are spoken in French overseas territories such as the French
Caribbean and French overseas dpartements, such as Runion, Guadeloupe,
Martinique and Guyane and also in the former French colonies of Africa.

The Langues dOl are also the basis for the French languages and dialects spoken in
North America, for example in Canada (Qubec, Montral) and in the former French
territories of the southern US states, especially in Louisiana.

French minority languages are regional languages in their own right. Most can be linked
to other European languages or minority languages except for le basque, which is
spoken on both sides of the FrenchSpanish border but whose roots are unknown.
Other minority languages are le breton, le catalan, loccitan, le corse, lalsatien, le
flamand and various croles.

In addition, elements of old languages have survived in most French regions in the form
of dialects or patois.

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