to promote the protection of trademarks and designs in the Benelux countries;
to perform additional tasks in other areas of the law on intellectual property, as decided by the Executive Board;
to continuously evaluate and, if necessary, adapt Benelux legislation on trademarks and designs in the light of, among others, international and community developments.
Our mission
Our staff are proud of their work and excited about the field of intellectual property. We therefore assist entrepreneurs in discovering the chances and opportunities open to them to protect a trademark, design or idea as best they can. We cannot give personal advice because BOIP is an independent body. We can provide as much information as possible to entrepreneurs. We do that with full knowledge of the facts, in plain language, actively and directly. We know what we are talking about and, conversely, we also like to hear what you are concerned about. That way we can always give you the best possible service.
The three members of our Director’s Committee each come from one of the Benelux countries:
Hugues Derème - Director General: has final responsibility for the organisation as a whole and for the performance of BOIP's statutory duties; represents the Benelux Organisation for Intellectual Property; responsible for BOIP's operational activities within the Operations and Legal & International Affairs departments; also responsible for international cooperation with partner organisations.
Ragnar Gustafsson - Deputy Director General: responsible for General Affairs: the BOIP's organisational activities within the IT, Finance and Facility departments.
Yves Hoffmann - Deputy Director General:responsible for Human Resources, Marketing, Communications and Customer Services.
The role of Director General is subject to a five-year rotation. The position is currently held by Hugues Derème since 1 July 2024.
Trademark registration in the Caribbean Netherlands
As instructed by the National Office for the Caribbean Netherlands BOIP also implements the Trademark Act BES (WMB) in the three special-status Dutch municipalities Bonaire, Sint-Eustatius and Saba. On the website www.caribIE.nl you will find information about trademark registration and maintenance in the Caribbean Netherlands.
Trademark registration Sint Maarten
In addition, BOIP, in cooperation with the Sint Maarten Bureau for Intellectual Property (BIP SXM) arranges trademark registration for Sint Maarten. BIP SXM is the official body for the execution of the "Merkenverordening" and the promotion of other IP rights, such as patents and copyright. Mrs. V. Rosen-Sandiford is the Bureau's Director. BIP SXM works closely with BOIP, which has provided Sint Maarten with an online trademark registration system (to be consulted via www.bip.sx). This system ensures a smooth, fast and transparent trademark registration procedure in Sint Maarten.
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