FAQ

You can only renew a trademark registration online. You will need to pay the renewal fees via My BOIP. Renewal is not subject to any requirements other than payment. If you wish, you may renew the trademark for certain registered classes only. It is, however, not possible to cancel terms in a given class outright. In order to do so, you must first submit a restriction for the relevant class.

You can monitor the status of an application in the Trademarks Register. You will not be notified when the status changes.

Certainly. EU Directive 2016/943 on the protection of undisclosed know-how and business information (trade secrets) against their unlawful acquisition, use and disclosure, requires that reasonable steps, under the circumstances, be taken to keep the relevant information secret. Depending on the situation, different types of measures may be deemed reasonable, for instance access control, a non-disclosure agreement, or indeed an i-DEPOT. The option of an i-DEPOT has, for instance, been validated by the Dutch legislature as such a measure in the Explanatory Memorandum to the Netherlands Trade Secrets Act.

BOIP is not a private or commercial entity (with all the associated risks to the integrity of your data now or in the future), but rather an independent, neutral international organisation which enjoys specific privileges and immunities, in particular the inviolability of its archives and the documents which it holds. One of our remits is to protect trademarks, drawings and designs. The law states that BOIP shall retain documents in an i-DEPOT "on a strictly confidential basis" (Article 4.4bis BCIP). To discharge that obligation, we have taken appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure the availability, integrity and confidentiality of i-DEPOTs. When an i-DEPOT certificate is issued, your data is secured. The services of a qualified trust service provider are used to sign the electronic i-DEPOT certificate, as required by EU Regulation 910/2014 on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market. i-DEPOT content is not sent anywhere to have the date stamp and signature applied. On the contrary, it remains in a secure environment at BOIP. The end result is a digital certificate, bearing a trustworthy date stamp, that guarantees that the i-DEPOT has not been modified since it was submitted.

If you choose an electronic i-DEPOT administered by BOIP, you have the means to manage access to the i-DEPOT yourself through your account and control it as you see fit.

You can therefore rest assured that if you log your trade secret in an i-DEPOT that doing so, together with any other measures you may take, will be considered as reasonable steps within the meaning of the Directive and Netherlands Act.

You can open a credit account via My BOIP; a one-off fee of 209 euro applies. You will need a My BOIP account to log in. Creating an account is free of charge and takes just a couple of minutes. You can only use a credit account for i-DEPOTs. You cannot use credits to pay to register a trademark or design.

Yes, your idea or trade secret is absolutely safe in BOIP's i-DEPOT. Protecting your data is of the utmost importance to us. To that end, we have taken appropriate technical and organisational measures to safeguard the availability, integrity and confidentiality of the i-DEPOT.

BOIP is certified compliant with ISO 27001, the international standard for information security. In addition, security audits and penetration tests are performed on a regular basis. The results of these audits show time and time again that we have our information security in good order. Read more about our information security

When an i-DEPOT certificate is issued, your data is secured. The services of a qualified trust service provider are used to sign the electronic i-DEPOT certificate, as required by EU Regulation 910/2014 on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market (eIDAS). i-DEPOT content is not sent anywhere to have the date stamp and signature applied. On the contrary, it remains in a secure (encrypted) environment at BOIP. The end result is a digital certificate, bearing a trustworthy date stamp, that guarantees that the i-DEPOT has not been modified since it was submitted.

BOIP's qualified trust service provider is GlobalSign. GlobalSign complies with an array of independent audits and accreditations, including certification as a qualified Certification Services Provider (CSP) under the ETSI standards and ISO/IEC 27001:2013, ISO 27701:2019 en ISO 27017:2015. An overview of these accreditations and certifications is provided on the GlobalSign website.

Therefore, whatever the content you place in an i-DEPOT, be it an idea, concept or trade secret, you can rest assured that it is held under seal of confidentiality and strictly secured by BOIP.

The Benelux Convention on Intellectual Property (BCIP) bestows the status of legal proof on i-DEPOT.

Furthermore, the i-DEPOT certificate is signed by a qualified trust service provider in accordance with EU Regulation 910/2014 on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market (eIDAS). BOIP's qualified trust service provider is GlobalSign. GlobalSign complies with an array of independent audits and accreditations, including certification as a qualified Certification Services Provider (CSP) under the ETSI standards and ISO/IEC 27001:2013, ISO 27701:2019 en ISO 27017:2015. An overview of these accreditations and certifications is provided on the GlobalSign website.

The i-DEPOT is not only recognised as proof in the Benelux, but also elsewhere. More information

In general, you need not present written authorisation to BOIP in order to act on behalf of a client. This is only required if you apply to cancel a client's trademark. In specific cases, BOIP may ask you to present your written authorisation if there is cause to do so.

We regularly post messages and news on our website. If you would like to receive automatic notification when a new message for IP professionals has been posted, you can read how you can do this here. 

You can also subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Linkedin.

The procedure for opening a current account is as follows:

• Send us a letter containing your name and address details;
• Transfer at least 1,000 euro to our bank account, stating 'open current account' as the payment reference.

We will then send you a letter informing you of the current account number.

The administrator of your My BOIP account can create an extra user profile for the person in your organisation who is authorised to make payments. This user and the person filing the application must be covered by the same account.

1. You can file your trademark or design application up to the 'Payment' button;
2. Do not click on Payment, but on 'Save application' on the right-hand side of the screen;
3. A file with the name "application.xml" will be downloaded. Send this file by e-mail to the person authorised to make payment. He or she will save the file;
4. Log out;
5. The person authorised to make payment logs in to My BOIP, clicks on 'Register trademark' or 'Register design' and then the button 'Continue to saved application';
6. The person authorised to make payment uploads the xml file, clicks on the blue button 'Start', then on the 'Next' button for each step and, in the final step, on 'Payment';
7. The person authorised to make payment selects and clicks on the payment method.

Protecting your data is of the utmost importance to us. To that end, we have taken extensive technical and organisational measures to safeguard the availability, integrity and confidentiality of the data we manage.

BOIP is certified compliant with ISO 27001, the international standard for information security.

In addition, security audits and penetration tests are performed on a regular basis by reputable security firms. The results of these audits show time and time again that we have our information security in excellent order. In the interests of security, we do not provide further details on how our services are secured.

BOIP is the legal owner of the software supporting the Benelux Patent Platform (BPP). This platform concerns a shared IT-patent platform which covers the main patent related processes for the National Offices of Intellectual Property of Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg. The BPP is used by these National Offices in order to execute the national laws governing patents. BOIP does not process personal data with regard to the BPP and also has no access to any data that is being processed through the BPP. If you have any questions with regard to the processing of personal data through the BPP, we refer you to the following government websites: 

• Belgian Implementation of the Benelux Patent Platform
• The Netherlands Patent Office
• National Commission for Data Protection - Luxembourg 

These details are only shown to users with a My BOIP account who have at least one valid trademark, design or i-DEPOT registered with BOIP.     

Click on the button 'Show address details' and log in using your My BOIP account details. If you have valid rights, you will now see the address details of the owner.     

If you were already logged in to My BOIP, you will be able to view the address details in the Trademarks Register directly. You do not need to log in again.  

Impact of Brexit: EU trademarks and international applications and registrations designating the EU are subject to measures put in place since 31 December 2020 that ensure trademark owners do not lose their existing rights. In short, this means that registered trademarks will be automatically converted and that, for ongoing applications, an application can be filed in the UK within the nine months following the end of the transition period, i.e. within nine months from 31 December 2020, and the priority date will be retained. More information is available from the websites of EUIPO and UKIPO.

For further information about the consequences of Brexit for Benelux trademarks and designs click here.

The Brexit negotiations are currently still in progress. Definitive arrangements for the Brexit relating to Community Designs are being elaborated. As soon as more information becomes available, we will post the news on our website. Latest updates

You can notify modifications to be made in the international register, just as you can for the Benelux register. In almost all cases, you can do so directly online with WIPO.

That said, in some cases, the modifications must be made via BOIP. These cases include judicial cancellations and transactions (transfers, licences, rights of pledge and attachments) where the request is made by a party other than the registered holder. In these exceptional cases, the request must be made via BOIP. The relevant WIPO form must be completed for this purpose. This form is sent to BOIP (preferably with the contact form) together with the necessary supporting documents and an explicit message to the effect that, given its nature, the transaction cannot be filed directly with WIPO.

If you have an international registration and want to extend it to other countries, you can do so by means of territorial extension (subsequent designation). The fee for territorial extension consists of a basic amount and an amount depending on how many and which countries you choose. You must file the application for territorial extension directly with WIPO.

Like a Benelux registration, an international registration is valid for ten years. The registration can be extended each time by a further period of ten years upon expiry of the registration period. The renewal must be filed directly with WIPO.

It is possible to appoint or change a representative via My BOIP:

1. Log in and choose "Appoint/ change representative" in the Account column.
2. Choose and select the holder(s) of the trademark of which you would like to be appointed as a representative.
3. All trademarks of the selected holder will be shown in the product overview.
   It is possible to delete trademarks from the overview.
   Trademarks for which you are already registered as a representative are also shown in the product overview. These will not be included in the modification and therefore not in the cost calculation.
4. After payment you will receive a confirmation by e-mail.

An assignment is recorded in the register. The corresponding deed of assignment or any other transfer, may be requested from BOIP by any third party for consideration. Often, therefore, an extract of the deed is submitted to BOIP, which shows the transfer but does not show certain confidential information. Certain information can also be made invisible, as long as the deed shows that the right has been transferred and that the parties have agreed on this. This also applies to licences and rights of pledge.

Yes. You will, however, need to indicate this in the forms. In such a case, the opposition will be automatically suspended until the registration number is known and the trademark has been registered.

If the opposition is based on a Benelux trademark that has not yet been registered, BOIP will notify the parties of the beginning and end of the automatic suspension. There is no need for the parties to notify BOIP of registration of the trademark application, as BOIP, as administrator of the register, is aware of such developments.

However, if an international application or EU trademark application is at issue, BOIP will notify parties of the start of the automatic suspension, but requests that the parties notify BOIP when the disputed trademark is registered, as this is a development recorded in a register that BOIP does not administer. We will subsequently send confirmation to the parties that the automatic suspension has come to an end. BOIP will, in any case, periodically check the relevant registers to establish whether the disputed trademark has been registered yet.

If you take a break from filing your opposition, we advise you to save it. There is a 'Save application' button on the right-side of the application.

The XML details of your opposition filing will then be saved on your computer. Select 'Retrieve saved application' when you want to resume filing your opposition. You can then upload the file saved on your computer.

If BOIP is closed on the last day of a stipulated time period, the time-limit is extended to the end of the next day on which BOIP is open for business (until 11.59 p.m. on that day).

Example: A period ends on a Saturday: you have until 11.59 p.m. on Monday to file the documents. A period ended on Sunday, 4 June 2017: you had until 6 June 2017 to file the documents because the Office was closed for business on 5 June 2017 (Whit Monday).

View the dates on which BOIP is closed for business

You can correspond with us through your My BOIP Message box regarding trademarks, designs, oppositions and modifications. More information

For general queries and information: call or email our Information Centre. 

My BOIP is a personal, secure online environment in which you can easily apply for and administer all of your registrations and i-DEPOTs.  You can create three different types of account:

• a personal (private) account;
• an account for a sole proprietorship;
• a business account.

Which type of account should I choose?

The choice of account type determines the details that appear in the applications you file with us. You can make this choice once only. If, at a later date, you no longer want your IP rights under your own name, but under your company name or vice versa, you can transfer them. To do this, you will need to create a new account for the company or person to which you are transferring them.

Is your company a sole proprietorship?

If so, you must indicate this when creating your account because there is a specific, legally-prescribed way of specifying the name of a sole proprietorship, i.e. Frida Bloemendaal, trading as Flower Specials.

Are you requesting registrations for someone else?

In one of the subsequent steps in applying for an account, you can indicate whether you will be using the account to apply for registrations for yourself or for other people or companies (as a legal intermediary). If you apply for registrations for other people or companies, we will assume that you are a legal intermediary who administers the intellectual property rights of various clients. Your details will also be given in the public information in the register and in the registration and i-DEPOT certificates. You will also be our first point of contact for all correspondence.

Do you own several companies? In that case, you are not deemed to be a legal intermediary. You will need to apply for a separate account for each company.

Remember to enter your new e-mail address in your account before you lose access to your old one. If you forget to do this, you will no longer have access to your account. Access cannot be restored. We advise you to always enter an alternative e-mail address.

You can find this information in My BOIP. Log in with your account details and click on the € sign in the left-hand bar. You will find our bank details there.

If your account has several users, it is possible that the account administrator has assigned different rights to different users. To gain access to the service you want to purchase, you will need to contact your organisation's account administrator.