The Belgian Office for Intellectual Property (OPRI)

The Office

The Belgian Office for Intellectual Property (OPRI) is a public service of the federal government.
The OPRI is part of the Federal Public Service Economy, SMEs, Self-employed and Energy (FPS Economy) and more specifically the Directorate-General Market Regulation and Organization. It handles all questions on intellectual property in Belgium.

The OPRI currently includes some sixty employees.

Missions

The OPRI's general mission is to protect intellectual property in Belgium. To that end, it is responsible for issuing and handling Belgian industrial property certificates, providing users with information on intellectual property, preparing legal texts, advising governments and representing Belgium internationally.

For the general public, the OPRI is above all the office where you can file patent requests, supplementary protection certificates for medicines and phytopharmaceutical products, plant variety right certificates, trademarks and designs.

The OPRI itself issues Belgian patents, supplementary protection certificates and plant variety right certificates. It oversees monitoring of their continuance. The OPRI also registers translations of European patents registered in Belgium.

In addition to its administrative tasks, the OPRI has an important role of providing information. It provides a reading room and website where the general public can access a large collection of patent documents, patent variety right certificates, registered trademarks and designs.

Moreover, the OPRI actively participates in developing and adapting Belgian regulations, treaties and national, European and international intellectual property agreements.

Services

The Legal and International Affairs Unit designs and adapts applicable intellectual property laws and regulations according to changes in community and international law. It represents Belgium’s intellectual property interests in relevant intergovernmental organizations: the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property, the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market, the Community Plant Variety Office, the European Patent Office, the World Intellectual Property Organization, the International Union for the Protection of Plant Varieties and the World Trade Organization. It also oversees the secretariat for intellectual property advisory and decision-making bodies and provides opinion on the scope of intellectual property laws and regulations.

The Production, Accounting and Information Unit is in charge of registering, granting and publishing intellectual property rights in Belgium. It acts as an intermediary for registering international rights and distributing information on intellectual property. It also engages in promotion, research, and distributing (as widely as possible) information on patents and collects registration, publication and maintenance taxes for intellectual property certificates.

Contact

For more information, contact the Office for Intellectual Property of the Directorate-General Regulation and Organization.

Activity reports

Activity reports for the Federal Public Service Economy, SMEs, Self-employed and Energy

For more information, contact the Office for Intellectual Property of the Directorate-General Market Regulation and Organization.