Manuel Degret

Manuel Degret is President and Industrial Property Counsel at Cabinet DEGRET, an intellectual property advisory firm based in Paris. Founded in 1974 and located on the place du Général Catroux in the 17th arrondissement, the firm accompanies enterprises, creators and institutions in the protection and enhancement of their intangible assets. Under Manuel Degret's leadership, Cabinet DEGRET has been recognised as IP Advisory Firm of the Year in France at the Corporate INTL Global Awards 2026 – a distinction that reflects the firm's decades of specialist practice in one of the most valuable and fast-moving areas of modern business law.

A dedicated intellectual property firm

Cabinet DEGRET is a focused intellectual property practice rather than a generalist law firm, and that concentration is central to its identity. Established more than half a century ago, it has built its work entirely around the creation, protection, management and defence of industrial and intellectual property rights. Its team acts as approved representatives before the principal registries that matter to rights holders in France and abroad, including the French National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI), the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the European Patent Office (EPO). This accreditation allows the firm to file, prosecute and defend rights across French, European and international systems from a single Paris base.

Comprehensive protection of intangible assets

The firm's services span the full life cycle of intellectual property. In trademarks, it handles clearance searches, filing, portfolio monitoring and opposition proceedings, helping brand owners secure and police the marks that distinguish their goods and services. In patents, it advises on drafting, filing and international extension, guiding inventors and companies as they seek protection for technical innovations across multiple jurisdictions. The practice also covers designs and models, protecting the aesthetic creations that give products their distinctive appearance, and domain names, from reservation and management through to the resolution of disputes.

Cabinet DEGRET's expertise extends further into appellations of origin, where it advises on and defends the geographical indications that protect the provenance and reputation of regional products, and into the enforcement of rights against counterfeiting. On the enforcement side the firm conducts investigations, organises seizures and issues cease-and-desist notices, giving rights holders the practical means to act against infringement and imitation. Taken together, these services allow clients to entrust the whole of their intellectual property strategy – from initial protection to active defence – to a single specialist adviser.

Valorisation as well as protection

A defining feature of the firm's philosophy is its emphasis on both the protection and the valorisation of intangible assets. For many businesses, intellectual property is among the most important value they own, yet it only delivers a return when it is properly secured, maintained and, where appropriate, exploited. By combining registration and enforcement work with advice on how to make the most of a portfolio, Cabinet DEGRET helps clients treat their trademarks, patents, designs and other rights as strategic commercial assets rather than administrative formalities.

That approach serves a broad client base of enterprises, individual creators and institutions, each with different needs but a shared interest in safeguarding what makes them distinctive. A company launching in new markets, an inventor protecting a breakthrough, a designer defending an original product and an institution managing a valuable name all benefit from the firm's blend of technical rigour and long experience.

With Manuel Degret at its head, Cabinet DEGRET offers French and international clients a specialist, Paris-based home for the whole of their intellectual property work. Its recognition as IP Advisory Firm of the Year in France at the Corporate INTL Global Awards 2026 confirms the standing of a firm that has spent five decades helping rights holders protect and make the most of their most valuable intangible assets.