Patent registration in Belgium. Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Western Europe. Belgium is a sovereign state and a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system. Belgium is one of the six founding countries of the European Union and its capital, Brussels, hosts the official seats of the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, and the European Council, as well as one of two seats of the European Parliament (the other being Strasbourg). Belgium is also a founding member of the Eurozone, NATO, OECD, and WTO, and a part of the trilateral Benelux Union and the Schengen Area. Brussels hosts the headquarters of many major international organizations such as NATO. Belgium is a developed country, with an advanced high-income economy. It has very high standards of living, quality of life, healthcare, education, and is categorized as “very high” in the Human Development Index. It also ranks as one of the safest or most peaceful countries in the world. Accordingly, many businesses want to enter this market and one of the most important preparations a business needs to take before expanding to this country is to learn the procedure of patent registration in Belgium.
Necessary documents for patent registration in Belgium
The necessary documents for patent registration in Belgium include:
- The request to grant a patent (patent application);
- Detailed information on the applicant(s) including the applicant’s and inventor’s names, addresses, citizenships, etc.;
- A description of the invention;
- A signed and stamped power of attorney by the applicant(s);
- Priority documents (if any);
- Other required documents.
Notes in the language of the patent application
The application for the patent registration in Belgium needs to be filed in one of the official languages of Belgium which is Dutch, French, or German.
Any additional documents can also be filed in these languages.
The applicant which is a company located in Belgium is required to use the official language of the region where they are based.
At the moment, to ease the burden of different languages that is acceptable in Belgium, the selection of the proper language is no longer a requirement to obtain a date of filing.
Any language can be selected and a translation is then submitted later.
The procedure of patent registration in Belgium
To obtain a patent in Belgium, the applicant needs to file the patent application to the Belgium IP Office.
After 6 to 9 months from the filing date, the applicant will receive a Search Report accompanied by a preliminary, non-binding Written Opinion on patentability by the European Patent Office.
The report can be re-used in part or in full in follow-on patent applications.
In Belgium, there is no examination phase.
Instead, during the entire process of registering to obtain a patent in Belgium, the applicant can amend the contents of the application and/or submit comments and they should do it to enhance the patent’s enforceability.
A Belgian patent is automatically granted after the time period for making amendments and submitting comments has lapsed. The patent system in Belgium also provides the applicant with an accelerated process of registering the patent.
After at least 18 months from the filing date or the priority date, if a priority right was invoked, a Belgian patent will be granted.
It should be noted that the patent in Belgium is at the applicant’s own risk as the patent in this country is granted to the applicant without prior examination of the patentability of the invention or of the truthfulness of their description.
Validity and renewal of a patent in Belgium
After the patent is granted, the final text of the patent is published.
Although it lacks somewhat of clear protection as there is no examination phase, nevertheless, a patent in Belgium gives the patentee a temporary monopoly on the invention and the right to forbid other people to create and sell the invention to gain profits, among other rights.
A patent in Belgium is valid for a maximum of 20 years.
To maintain the protection of a patent in Belgium, the patentee needs to pay the annuities fee every year, starting from the second anniversary of the filing of the patent application.
You can see a list of Belgium IP firms here.