As for the primary tasks, the majority of figures saw a negative development during the course of 2012. Falling by 4.9% and 1.5% respectively, the trademark filings and renewals in particular suffered. The number of oppositions submitted remained stable. The
In 2012, activities mainly focused on international cooperation, particularly with the OHIM. The BOIP finalised the project regarding harmonisation of the Euroclass database in Dutch and implemented two projects of the Cooperation Fund: participation in Design View and the online availability of seniority details. In addition, we took
part in four of the five Convergence Programme projects. In that context, the encouraging results achieved with the Taxonomy project are worth a mention. This project should facilitate the availability, in the near future, of a structured database for users, providing an insight into goods and services and geared to the different languages and offices of the European Union.
The IRPI project (concerning the computerised submission of international applications), in which the BOIP takes part as pilot office, was unfortunately delayed at the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization). That means the commissioning of the system, which was scheduled for the autumn of 2012, has been postponed.
In legal terms, we are of course overjoyed about the fact that our arguments in the opposition decision regarding the Onel case were supported by the European Court of Justice in its judgement of 19 December 2012. This proves that the territorial use of the Community Trade Mark cannot be assessed on the basis of national borders (or on the basis of any other de minimis rule), but will have to be assessed on a case-by-case basis and, above all, depending on the market in question. On the other hand, the judgement of the Court in the IP Translator case forced the OHIM and national offices to enter into consultation in order to coordinate their methods in the field of classification and more specifically the use of class headings.
This requires an amendment to the Implementation Regulations to simplify the renewal procedure for a trademark (this will soon be realised through a new online payment module) and to include the provisions on the
In 2012, the BOIP proudly completed a number of important projects, some of which are of great added value to their users. We particularly want to mention the introduction of the Designs Register, the new online payment module for trademark filings, the electronic renewal of the
completion of processes, we would also like to mention the safety projects of our IT environment and process continuity (in other words: disaster recovery), tests, the financial module for oppositions and the organisation of a video conference system in conjunction with the OHIM and the other national offices.
The Benelux Council for Intellectual Property (BCIP) convened once in 2012 in order to deal with the Public
In addition, the BOIP devoted a great deal of time and energy to the Benelux Patent Platform project. This public tendering process was closed at the end of 2012 by the decision to award the contract to European Dynamics. The project schedule needed some adjusting: the first of the three countries (Belgium) is supposed to start using the system in March 2014. The entire system will be hosted at an established contracting party in the Netherlands, but both the hardware and software will be fully owned by the BOIP, the signatory to the contract with the System Integrator.
Until May 2012, there was a major campaign to promote the
universities, trade associations, etc.). In addition, in no fewer than 18 Dutch cities the BOIP was represented at the Starters Day organised by the Chamber of Commerce. The Office also attended trade fairs throughout the Benelux and gave numerous presentations and workshops.