Participating Offices

Belgium

Notifications

Date: August 9, 2024

The Belgian Intellectual Property Office (IPObel) notified the International Bureau, in accordance with paragraph 10 the Framework Provisions of the Digital Access Service, that it would extend the scope of its operations as a depositing Office for patents within WIPO DAS, with effect from September 1, 2024.

The legal basis permitting IPObel to upload and make priority documents available to other participating WIPO DAS offices through the WIPO DAS depositing office service is set out in Article XI.20/1 of the Belgian Code of Economic Law.

The Royal Decree of April 21st, 2024, Royal implementing Article XI.20/1 of the Code of Economic Law was officially published on July 24th, 2024 is accessible online.

The aforementioned Decree of April 21, 2024, aims to modify and adapt the Royal Decree of 2^nd December 1986 concerning the application, delivery and preservation of patents for the implementation of the aforementioned article XI.20/1.

The scope of our Office’s digital library, which it makes available as a depositing Office, concerns certified copies of patent applications for use as priority documents in respect of a national patent application, which the applicant specifically requests to be made available on WIPO DAS service.

Regarding the technical and operational options adopted by the Belgian Office of Intellectual Property are:

• IPObel as a depositing Office will deposit certified copies of Belgian patent applications upon request by the applicants by uploading them to the digital access service (DAS) as of September 1st, 2024.
• Applicants may request the upload of certified copies of Belgian patent applicants existing prior to September 1st, 2024.
• These certified copies will be identified by the relevant patent application numbers, which include the letters BE, the year in numbers, the forward slash symbol, and additional numbers.
• These certified copies will be uploaded in PDF format through the WIPO DAS Portal Service.

The following practical information may be useful to applicants:

The applicant’s request, addressed to IPObel, as a depositing Office, to make a certified copy of the application available on the WIPO digital access service can be made by checking the relevant box in the application form or by sending a letter to IPObel clearly stating the relevant application number and indicating that it should be made available to the WIPO Priority Document Access Service.

Further details on the IPO's participation in the service will be made available on IPObel’s website:

Dutch version

French version

Date: February 14, 2022

The Belgian Intellectual Property Office (OPRI) notified the International Bureau, in accordance with paragraphs 10 and 12 of the Framework Provisions of the Digital Access Service, that it would extend the scope of its operations as an accessing Office in the WIPO DAS to utility model priority documents, with effect from February 14, 2022.

Date: November 1, 2020

The Belgian Intellectual Property Office (OPRI) notified the International Bureau in accordance with paragraphs 10 of the Framework Provisions that it would commence operation as an accessing office with effect from November 1, 2020.

-       OPRI as an accessing Office will recognize priority documents available to it through the digital access service for the purposes of national patent applications filed on or after the 1^st of November 2020.

-       As an Accessing Office, the Office will accept color, greyscale black and white documents in PDF format as deposited by depositing Offices.

The following practical information may be useful to applicants:

To request OPRI as accessing Office to retrieve the document from the DAS service, the applicant should check the relevant box next to the priority claim on the application form or send a letter to OPRI.

Further details on the IPO's participation in the service will be made available at OPRI’s website:

Dutch version : https://economie.fgov.be/nl/themas/intellectuele-eigendom/innovatie-en-itellectuele/recht­ van-voorrang

French version: https://economie.fgov.be/fr/themes/propriete-intellectuelle/ innovation-et-propriete/le-droit­-de-priorite

Article Xl.20 §1, second paragraph and §2, second paragraph of the Belgian Code of Economic Law, as well as article 4 §5 of the Royal Decree 2nd December 1986 concerning the application, delivery and preservation of patents are the provisions of national law which give recognition to documents available through the DAS service and which give an opportunity to comply in accordance with paragraphs 14 and 15 of the Framework Provisions in case the document is in fact not available.

The Office's point of contact for general matters relating to WIPO DAS will be Mr. Vander Velpen and Mrs. Degreef, who may be contacted at the following e-mail address: OPRIDIE-tech@economie.fgov.be