General presentation
The Council for Intellectual Property (hereafter “the Council” was founded by the Federal Public Service Economy by the Royal Decree of 5 July 2004 (Dutch version – French version).
The Council is a consultative body made up of experts and representatives of the sectors that are involved with intellectual property. Its primary role is to submit to the minister responsible for intellectual property opinions on any issue relating to intellectual property.
The Council resorts to the FPS Economy, which is responsible for intellectual property in its entirety.
One Council and two sections
The Council for Intellectual Property is composed of two sections: the section "Industrial Property" and the section "Copyright and Related Rights", which are respectively responsible for industrial property issues and copyright and related rights issues.
The Council meets in a plenary session in order to deal with issues common to intellectual property as a whole.
The role of this two-level structure is to take account of the characteristics of the two main branches of intellectual property. It effectively coordinates, within a single body, issues that horizontally affect intellectual property as a whole, such as ways of ensuring respect for intellectual property rights, while also submitting questions relating to each branch of intellectual property to the section specifically dedicated to each.
The composition of the Council and its sections
The composition of both sections, whose members are automatically members of the plenary Council for Intellectual Property, is very diverse. The competent minister considered it necessary to bring together people from the academic world and representatives of the main relevant sectors to prepare opinions.
The "Industrial Property" section includes:
- persons recognised for their legal expertise in the area of industrial property;
- trademark and/or patent agents;
- representatives of businesses or business organisations;
- representatives of the regional institutions, responsible for promoting innovation;
- representatives of consumer organisations.
The "Copyright and Related Rights" section comprises two subsections, namely:
- the sub-section "Experts":
- the sub-section “Stakeholders”.
The sub-section "Experts" comprises persons recognised for their legal expertise in the area of copyright and related rights.
The sub-section "Stakeholders" consists of representatives of:
- rightholders;
- user organisations;
- the Communities;
- consumer organisations.
These members, and the presidents of the two sections, are appointed by the Minister for Economic Affairs, for a renewable four-year term.
Members of the Council for Intellectual Property (French version (PDF, 129.56 KB) - Dutch version) (PDF, 172.87 KB)
The secretariat of the Council and the sections is provided by the Intellectual Property Office Belgium.
Activity reports of the Council for Intellectual Property
- Activity report 2010 - 2011 Dutch version (PDF, 66.37 KB) – French version (PDF, 75.44 KB)
- Activity report 2012 - 2014 Dutch version (PDF, 264.72 KB) – French version (PDF, 276.91 KB)
- Activity report 2015 Dutch version (PDF, 261.24 KB) – French version (PDF, 227.69 KB)
- Activity report 2016 Dutch version (PDF, 196.54 KB) – French version (PDF, 201.03 KB)
- Activity report 2017 Dutch version (PDF, 197.6 KB) – French version (PDF, 220.71 KB)
- Activity report 2018 Dutch version (PDF, 315.7 KB) – French version (PDF, 322.09 KB)
- Activity report 2019 Dutch version (PDF, 716.71 KB) – French version (PDF, 715.97 KB)
- Activity report 2020 Dutch version (PDF, 863.98 KB) – French version (PDF, 764.28 KB)
- Activity report 2021 Dutch version (PDF, 351.62 KB) – French version (PDF, 348.56 KB)
- Activity report 2022 Dutch version (PDF, 363.96 KB) – French version (PDF, 369.51 KB)
The activity reports of previous years can be obtained from the Intellectual Property Office upon simple request.
Relations between the Council and other commissions
The Council for Intellectual Property exercises its consultative jurisdiction without prejudice to the powers devolved to other bodies responsible for the execution of the various laws on intellectual rights. It is, therefore, not the role of the Council to intervene in matters that are the competence of the:
