The accessibility and user-friendliness of procedures at the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property (BOIP) has improved since 1 October 2013. On this date, a number of procedural changes entered into force.

First of all, English has been adopted as a working language in addition to Dutch and French. As a result, the registration of Benelux trade marks and designs, the filing of oppositions and all other correspondence with the BOIP can be carried out in the English language.

Unlike Dutch and French, English has not been adopted as one of BOIP’s official languages, so that regarding international applications the defendant in opposition proceedings may choose Dutch or French as the procedural language if he disagrees with the claimant having chosen English. BOIP can also provide translation of any document submitted in opposition proceedings that is written in English, notwithstanding the procedural language. Hence, no one is forced to use English.

Another significant change concerns the opposition period. This period used to be calculated from the first day of the month following publication of an application. Instead, the period will now be calculated from the date of publication. Furthermore, on joint request of the parties, oppositions can be suspended during a period of four months instead of two.

In addition, Benelux trade marks and designs can now be renewed simply by paying the required fees online. Hence, the requirement that a written renewal request be made to BOIP has been abolished. An online renewal tool is available on the BOIP website, www.boip.int.

Moreover, the so-called i-DEPOT was given a legal basis in the Benelux Convention on Intellectual Property. Until 1 October 2013, the i-DEPOT, a means of evidence furnishing proof that its content existed on a specified date and has been unchanged since, was governed by general terms and conditions.

Finally, in case of registrations belonging to different proprietors amendment of the registers after a change of representatives can be brought about by a single request. A single request used to be sufficient only in case of registrations owned by the same proprietor.

More information on the recent BOIP procedural changes can be found here.

Written by Denise Verdoold