User Guide for the Belgian System of Patents and Supplementary Protection Certificates

This guide was developed on the initiative of the FPS Economy in order to help applicants and their representatives (patent agents and lawyers) better understand the different steps in obtaining a patent or supplementary protection certificate in Belgium.

This guide contains a toolbox with an overview of the procedure for granting a Belgian patent, as well as a series of practical checklists for drafting and filing a Belgian patent application and for drafting requests for improvement, amendment or invalidity.

The guide aims to clarify the procedures and save much time and effort in carrying them out, both for applicants and for Office staff.

The guide is available in Dutch and French. It is periodically updated in the light of developments in applicable law and lessons learned from making it available to users of the Belgian intellectual property system.

Main Themes

The guide covers the following topics:

1. Intellectual property rights, patents and supplementary protection certificates
2. Proceedings on patents and supplementary protection certificates at the Belgian Intellectual Property Office
3. Practical aspects of procedures at the Belgian Intellectual Property Office
4. Professional assistance & services and products in terms of patent documentation and information
5. Online services from the Benelux Patent Platform (BPP)