Mission

IPObel’s general mission is to protect intellectual property in Belgium. To that end, it is responsible for issuing and handling Belgian industrial property certificates (patents, supplementary protection certificates and plant variety rights), providing users with information on intellectual property, preparing legal texts, advising governments and representing Belgium internationally.

The organization responsible for issuing and handling Benelux  trademarks, models and designs however, is the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property (BOIP). All info on the protection of these IP-rights can be found on www.boip.int.

For the general public, IPObel is above all the office where you can file patent requests, supplementary protection certificates for medicines and phytopharmaceutical products, and plant variety right certificates, all of which IPObel issues itself. It is also the office that administers the continuance of these right.

In addition to its administrative tasks, IPObel has an important role of providing information. It provides a point of contact and website where the general public can access information on intellectual property in general, as well as a large collection of patent documents and plant variety right certificates.

Moreover, IPObel actively participates in developing and adapting Belgian regulations, treaties and national, European and international intellectual property agreements.

Services

The services of IPObel are taken care of by a number of different units:  

The Legal and International Affairs Unit designs and adapts applicable intellectual property laws and regulations according to changes in community and international law, including copyright laws and regulations. It represents Belgium’s intellectual property interests in relevant intergovernmental organizations: the Benelux Intellectual Property Office, the European Union Intellectual Property Office, the Community Plant Variety Office, the European Patent Office, the World Intellectual Property Organization, the International Union for the Protection of Plant Varieties and the World Trade Organization. It also oversees the secretariat for intellectual property advisory and decision-making bodies and provides opinion on the scope of intellectual property laws and regulations.

The Production Unit is mainly in charge of registering, granting and publishing patents, supplementary protection certificates and plant variety rights in Belgium.

The Financial and Information Unit engages in promotion, research, and distributing (as widely as possible) information on all intellectual property rights and collects registration, publication and maintenance taxes for patents, supplementary protection certificates and plant variety rights.