Benelux trademarks

Territory

Trademarks cannot be registered for the Dutch territory only. All registrations apply to all of the Benelux countries. Trademark applications for the Benelux countries can be filed with the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property in The Hague, the Netherlands.

 

Procedure

A trademark application can be filed with the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property. It is then established by means of an official investigation whether the application meets all the formal requirements. The application is published by the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property. Proprietors of earlier trademarks may oppose registration of the trademark in writing within a period of two months starting on the first day of the month following the publication of the application. Only after registration, the trademark is protected by the trademark law. Accelerated registration is possible. When a trademark is registered, it is important to have a trademark surveillance with regard to subsequent aplications of Benelux trademarks (see information under Searches and surveillance). This enables the proprietor of the earlier trademark to timely oppose a subsequent application.

 

Refusal of trademark application

In the past, the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property could not refuse any application, which meant that all trademarks were registered. Since 1 January 1996, the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property may refuse trademark applications that have no distinctive nature, that are misleading or that conflict with public policy or public decency. A refusal applies to the entire trademark, but need not always apply to all of the products or services named in the application. An objection to such refusal may be filed with the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property itself. If the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property persists in its refusal, an appeal may be filed with the Gerechtshof of The Hague, the Hof van Beroep of Brussels, or the Court d'Appel of Luxembourg.

 

Period of validity

If a trademark is registered, that registration will be valid for a period of ten years, as from the date of application, and may be extended by unlimited ten-year periods.

 

Lapse of trademark registration

A trademark registration may be cancelled if the trademark is not put to use within five years after the application or if it is not used for a period of five years. The use must be related to the product or service class for which the trademark was registered.

If a trademark has not been used for a period of five years, the trademark right will lapse when a third party so demands. The trademark right will not lapse if the trademark owner puts the trademark to use (or does so again) after the end of the five-year period but before a third party claims the cancellation of the trademark registration. In that case the trademark owner may not be aware that such a claim has been filed. The cancellation of a trademark registration can be avoided if the owner gives a proper reason as to why the trademark is not being used.

A trademark right may also lapse if the trademark becomes a common name due to acts or inactivity of the trademark owner or because the trademark has become misleading since its registration.

 

Costs

The costs and honoraria of filing a Benelux trademark are available upon request.

De Vries & Metman can advise and assist you in obtaining a Benelux trademark registration.