Do you have an original concept, could your new process be of interest to certain manufacturers, or have you created something? And do you want to prove that you are the first creator...
Filing with official institutions
You can file your creation with the official institutions to make it easier to prove the date of existence of this creation. This could prove very useful for defending yourself in the event of a dispute regarding your intellectual rights to your creation. For example, it will allow you to prove that your creation is prior to that of your challenger, or that it was created before the start of your employment contract, so it is you and not your employer who is the sole holder of the intellectual rights.
Under no circumstances, filings grant autonomous intellectual property rights or prove that the legal conditions for protection by intellectual property rights (e.g. copyright or patent rights) were met.
Under ordinary law, there are two ways of providing evidence of the date of creation.
- The first possibility is to contact any registration office of the Federal Public Service Finance. It is only possible to register « paper » documents with these offices (so no CD Roms, USB keys, etc.). The registration of a « non priced » act (i.e. documents other than, for example, contracts for the rental or sale of property as defined in the Code of Registration, Mortgage and Court Fees) currently costs 50 euros per document. A seal stating the date is then placed on the document.
You can make- an appointment with one of the FPS Finance offices or
- send your digitised documents to the e-mail address rzsj.bureau.bruxelles2@minfin.fed.be, with the aim of obtaining a fixed date.
- The second possibility is the creation by a notary of an official record stating the existence of the work. The notary can keep the documents and assign them a date. You can also, for example, file your CD Roms and USB keys with a notary, who will keep these copies.
i-DEPOT
Another way to prove the date of creation of a work is via i-DEPOT, by the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property (BOIP).
With this i-DEPOT, you can prove the existence of a creation on a specific date, such as
- an idea,
- a concept,
- a drawing,
- an invention,
- a model,
- a song,
- a scenario or
- a prototype.
This proof can be very important in the event of a dispute.
More information on Ideas | Benelux Intellectual Property Office (boip.int).
