Filing an application for registration

You can register your Intellectual Property once it has been analysed and classified.

It is possible to commission us to register your Intellectual Property for you, i.e. to file an application for registration for you.

There are 3 main forms of registration, namely:

• National
• Benelux
• International
• Europe
• Countries outside of Europe

A brief description of the procedures for the various registers is presented below.

Trademarks

The Benelux Register

We would advise you to file your application for registration as soon as possible if the searches show that you have developed a sound mark. Your mark will be protected from the moment that your application has been filed. An application to register a trademark can be filed with the Benelux Trademarks Office either at the same time as or after the substantive examination. After the application for registration has been filed, a decision as to whether or not the mark meets the requirements necessary for being registered in the Trademark Register is taken on the basis of the results from the examination. Since 1 January 1996, it is possible for a mark to be refused if it does not meet the requirements. It is possible to appeal against a temporary refusal. It is even possible to appeal against a definitive refusal. A mark cannot be refused on the grounds of one or more previous applications for registration. In such cases, we nevertheless recommend that you do not persist with the filing of the application as the holders of the previous filings may institute legal proceedings against you.

From the above, it becomes clear that it is vitally important to have someone carry out the preliminary searches. After all the requirements have been met, the mark will be registered in the Benelux Trademark Register and you will receive a certificate of registration. The registration is valid in all three of the Benelux countries for a period of 10 years, as long as the mark is used in a normal commercial manner. It is possible to renew and thus extend the registration for a period of 10 years at a time.

The European Register - Community Trademark

If your company operates on the international market, it is important to ensure that your mark is also protected internationally. Thanks to the formation of the European Union it is now possible to protect your mark in all member countries at the same time by just registering it once. Your mark is then filed in the European Trademark Register. The procedure employed here is virtually identical to the Benelux procedure. Here too, a substantive examination will be used to establish whether or not your mark is distinctive and whether or not your mark is identical to previously registered marks. Your application for registration will be published after this examination. This gives holders of existing rights the opportunity to file an objection. If an objection is well founded, your application will be refused for all EU countries, even if the objection only applies to one EU country. If this is the case, you can register your mark in the individual countries. We would only recommend that you register a strong mark or a mark that you are planning to use in several EU countries as a Community Trademark.

The International Register

On the basis of a Benelux registration, it is possible to apply for protection of your mark in either a number or all of the countries that are party to the Madrid Agreement or Madrid Protocol. If you file an application for international registration within 6 months of filing your application for registration in the Benelux Register, your International registration will carry the same date as your Benelux registration. This is important because your mark will then be protected as of that date. It is also possible to obtain protection for countries that are not party to this agreement. The procedures may differ from country to country. We can provide you with tailor-made advice to help you determine what would be the most suitable form of protection for you at international level.

Countries party to the Madrid Agreement and/or the Madrid Protocol.

INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS

The Benelux Design Register

It has been possible to file industrial designs in the Benelux Designs Register since 1975. However, there may not be an identical design and may not enjoyed the public before the date of registration. It also must have its own original character. This means that you are not allowed to put your new design onto the market before protecting it. In addition, your design must have a utilitarian function. The utilitarian function can be interpreted in the broadest sense of the word. Industrial designs can also be protected internationally. CTC-ITP can provide you with extensive advice about the possibilities of registration.

The European Register – Community Designs

It has been possible to file industrial designs in The European Design Register since 2002. This procedure is very similar with the Benelux procedure.

The International Design Register

The Madrid Agreement and Protocol provides you with an International registration of a Design. This system gives a Design owner the possibility to have his Design protected in several countries by simply filling one application with a single office, in one language, with one set of fees in one currency.
For countries not party of The Madrid Agreement and/or Protocol the rules and fees are based on the National country rules.

PATENTS

The protection of your Intellectual Property under patent law will come about through mediation by a patent agent. CTC-ITP will take care of all the formalities and administration required for the registration.

National Application

In the case of a patent, the application for registration is first of all filed with the Netherlands Industrial Property Office. The applicant can ask the Netherlands Industrial Property Office to carry out a state-of-the-art search within thirteen months after the date on which the application was filed. A state-of-the-art search is not compulsory when applying for a short-term, i.e. six-year patent. After the filing date, the application is subsequently entered into the Patent Register. After which the patent is granted.

European Application

Applications for European patents should be filed at the European Patent Office. Then a state-of-the-art search will be conducted. After that, the application will be published as soon as possible after a term of eighteen months following the date on which the application was filed has expired.

On written request, the European Patent Office will examine whether or not the application and the invention to which the application for registration relates meet the conditions set out in the European Patent Convention. The examination is particularly focused on material patent requirements. If the research department is of the opinion that the conditions set out in the European Patent Convention have been met, it will grant the European patent. It is possible for third parties to give notice of opposition to the patent granted within nine months from publication of the granting decision.

International Application – Patent in and outside Europe

An International patent application can be done by different routes. It is possible by national country but there is also a possibility by the Patent Cooperation Treaty, the so called PCT – route.
This route is followed when protection is desirable in and outside Europe, or when postponement is important for your product.
The advantage of the PCT – route is that you have 30 months in which you can decide in which part of the world you really want to have your patent.