Trademarks in the Benelux

Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg have a single trademark registry that is administered by the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property (BOIP). Every trademark has to be registered for a specific class of goods or services, thus allowing a brand name to be listed for more than one type of product. AJAX for instance is registered as a brand name for a football club, a household cleaning product and as a brand for fire extinguishers by three different companies.

It is important to note that before 1996 the governing body of the Benelux registry did not have the authority to reject applications for registration. Therefore, the registry contains trademarks registered prior to 1996 which do not meet current requirements. As a result, your own research into registration possibilities may well put you on the wrong foot. For this reason alone the use of our experts is sensible.

All trademarks registered have to have distinctive character. In other words, they have to be recognizable as a brand. Most rejections for registration are due to a lack of distinctiveness. Therefore we advise our clients to let us examine their brand before applying for registration. The BOIP no longer checks for resemblances with existing registered trademarks. If the application passes initial screening it will be published for opposition by third parties. Once final registration has been obtained it remains valid for ten years, after which renewal for another ten years is possible. Be aware that your trademark has to be used in order to maintain your rights to your trademark. We are highly experienced in successfully registering trademarks for a wide variety of clients. Please consult us for more information.

Hendriks & Co. can investigate whether your application for registration is at risk of being rejected. Very often a quick inquiry by one of our experts is free of charge. In addition, we provide advice on the best course of action if we estimate that rejection is likely. Other options for investigating brands are: comparison of individual elements of your brand to existing registrations, checking competitors’ brand registrations, comparing your brand name to existing trade names, checking linguistic and semantic connotations of your brand name in other languages and analyzing the usage of registered brand names. Call us at +31(0)35-6919011 to discuss all options with one of our experts.

Registration alone is not enough to protect your trademark. The Benelux authority for trademarks will not screen new applications for similarity with existing registrations. It is important to remain vigilant at all times. Hendriks & Co. monitors publications of new registration requests constantly in order to identify possible infringements of your trademark rights. When we spot a violation we will vigorously defend your interests. If an infringement is not spotted at the time of publication and has to be addressed after registration has been granted, the case has to be tried in court before a judge. Needless to say such a proceeding is much more expensive. Please contact us for more information on the possibilities and costs involved in protecting your trademarks, or call us to discuss your options at +31(0)35-6919011.

Rights derived from a trademark registration depend on its accuracy. If your registration no longer matches reality, your rights may be reduced or even nullified. Therefore it is important that all changes to relevant data such as your address, company name etc. are applied to your registration. Furthermore, changes to your brand itself also need to be compared with the relevant registration. Even minor diversions in how your brand is used, compared to how it is registered, can render your existing trademark rights useless and may necessitate a new brand registration. For your convenience Hendriks & Co. offers maintenance contracts which cover these sorts of changes at reasonable expense. Please contact us for more information.

Similar to trademarks, designs are also registered in a single database for Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg. This registry is administered by the same organization that is responsible for trademarks: the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property. A design is defined as the new and unique appearance of an industrial or handicraft item, or a part of it. A registered design is protected for a period of 5 years, renewable up to 25 years. However, if the design fulfils certain conditions of copyright legislation it may be protected for a period of up to 70 years after the author’s passing away. For more information on specific requirements please contact us.

A design is registered by submitting an application with images that clearly identify the important elements of the design. We advise our clients to add sufficient images to highlight each individual characteristic trait of the design. Anything that is not documented cannot be relied on in court when needed. If all formal requirements are fulfilled the registration is recorded in the register and it is published in the Industrial Designs Gazette. The BOIP does not assess the novelty and uniqueness of your design compared to already registered designs. Neither is it possible for other parties such as design registration agencies to check new applications for similar existing Benelux designs. Do not hesitate to ask our experienced consultants to fill you in on what is and isn’t possible. Call us for a free introductory advice at +31(0)35-6919011.

If you are not ready to launch your product onto the market, but you do want to protect it you can ask for deferment of publication. This means that your application will not be published in the Designs Gazette after formal requirements have been met. Instead, your application for registration will be published at a later date to prevent others from copying and launching similar products before you can.

At Hendriks & Co. we advise our clients to update their registrations with changes to administrative data such as addresses, company names and registration owners. If this is not done your design rights may be impaired. Also when the design has been licensed, pawned or seized, this needs to be indicated on the registration. Hendriks & Co. offers a unique maintenance contract which takes care of all possible maintenance to your registrations so that you need not worry about this. Contact us free of obligations to learn more or call our experts during office hours at +31(0)35-6919011.