Borel and Perrin conducted the initial review before forwarding proposals to the Commission des inventions (led by Breton), which made the final selection through seven expert juries.

In December 1916, Painlevé left the government, and Breton became Secretary of State for Inventions in the new Ministry of Artillery and Munitions, led by Albert Thomas.

[1] During the war, the establishment and functioning of the Directorate of Inventions and its Commission were widely appreciated by researchers (both academics and engineers), industrialists, military personnel, and parliamentarians who generously funded their work.

In 1901, Le Chatelier wrote: "My goal is to counter the widespread sentiment in France that science should distance itself from practical applications, avoiding any association with industry as if it were a compromising affiliation.

In 1922, Charles Moureu, a chemist and professor at the Collège de France, who had worked on the Commission for Explosive Substances during the war,[4] convinced deputy Maurice Barrès to campaign in Parliament for the protection of scientific research.

The Office was dissolved and replaced by the Centre national de la recherche scientifique appliquée (CNRSA), under the leadership of Henri Longchambon, professor of mineralogy and Dean of the Faculty of Sciences in Lyon.