When you register your trade mark, you’ll be able to:
1. Take legal action against anyone who uses your brand without your permission, including counterfeiters
2. Put the ® symbol next to your brand - to show that it’s yours and warn others against using it
3. Sell and license your brand
Trademark & Brand registration in Benelux
Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg are treated as one common area - BENELUX - with a uniform trademark law and one trademark office. There are no national trademark laws in any of the Benelux countries, therefore, the national trademarks are not registered in these countries. There are currently two ways to obtain trademark registration covering these 3 countries: to apply for registration at the Trademark Office of the European Union - this will cover all 28 countries of the EU - or to apply for the trademark at the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property (BOIP).
The main difference is the price - the fee for registering a mark in Benelux is considerably lower than the fee in the European Union.
Trademark registration: Procedure
There is only examination on absolute grounds; the official search has been abandoned. This means that even if there is an identical trademark. the examiner will not issue an objection due to likelihood of confusion with such a trademark but merely informs the trademark owner that there is a potential conflict, allowing him to file an opposition. After the examination on formalities and absolute grounds, the application is published in the online Benelux Bulletin for opposition purposes.
The entire straightforward process takes around 4 months. Also, an expedited registration procedure might be requested, the expedited process takes only a month.
Trademark registration: Duration
A trademark registration is valid for 10 years starting from the filing date.
Our prices include everything for a straightforward process of registration. The prices do not include any legal defenses in case of oppositions or objections.
The Benelux is a politico-economic union of three neighbouring states in western Europe: Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. The countries formed a trademark treaty and created one mutual Trademark Office in 2005, they concluded a treaty establishing a Benelux Organization for Intellectual Property which replaced their trademark offices upon its entry into force on 1 September 2006. This Organization is the official body for the registration of trademarks and designs in the Benelux.
Services
We offer the following services in Benelux:
- Trademark Search
- Trademark Registration
- Trademark renewal
- Trademark opposition
- Defenses in case of oppositions or objections/office actions in Benelux
- Trademark assignment
- Change of name/Change of Address
If you are interested in any of these services, please do not hesitate to contact us.