BELGIUM Law and Practice Contributed by: Valentin de le Court, Camille De Munter and Emilie Van Heck, Osborne Clarke LLP
The costs associated with obtaining a national patent in Belgium can vary depending on several factors, including the complexity of the invention and the time needed to draft the patent applica- tion, the services of the patent attorney or agent, and any additional fees that may apply during the patent application process. Average costs to grant in Belgium, including patent attorney fees, range between EUR7,000 and EUR12,000. Before the EPO, the overall timing from appli- cation to grant will largely depend on a set of various factors (eg, the complexity of the inven- tion, the extent of examination required, and the challenges and objections raised by the exam- iner) and usually lasts between three and five years. Average costs to grant, up to validation in Belgium, may vary greatly and range usually between EUR10,000 and EUR20,000 (including patent attorney fees). Patent applicants do not need to be represented for the filing of a Euro- pean patent application but any natural or legal persons not having their residence or principal place of business in an EPC contracting state will need to be represented in all proceedings established by the EPC. 1.4 Term of Each Intellectual Property Right The term of protection for Belgian national pat- ents, European patents and unitary patents is 20 years as from the filing date of the application. To maintain the patent in force, taxes need to be paid annually. Patent term extensions of up to five years can be obtained via supplementary protection cer- tificates (SPCs) for certain medicinal and plant protection products. The paediatric extension may extend the lifetime of an SPC granted for a medicinal product for an additional six months.
The protection of trade secrets is not limited in time and remains for as long as the information is kept secret. 1.5 Rights and Obligations of Owners of Intellectual Property Rights A patent confers exclusive rights to its owner, which means that the patent holder has the right to exclude others from exploiting the invention in Belgium if done without its express consent – that is, the right to: • prohibit the use, making, offering, placing on the market, importing or stocking a patented product for that purpose; • prohibit the use of a patented process or prohibit to offer its use on the Belgian territory if the third party knows or should have known that the use is prohibited; and • prohibit to offer, place on the market, use or import or hold for these purposes a product obtained directly by a patented process in Belgium. Accordingly, a patent owner has the following rights in Belgium. • Take legal action against any third party that infringes its patented invention. This may involve seeking damages, injunctive relief, and other corrective measures before the Belgian courts. • Licensing – the patent holder may license the patented invention, on an exclusive or non- exclusive basis, and authorise its use under certain conditions (including financial). • The right to assign the patent to another party, allowing the latter to take over the own- ership of the patent rights. • The right to pledge a patent and to grant a usufruct. • The right to abandon a patent.
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