In consultation with the three Benelux countries, the Benelux Organisation for Intellectual Property has issued a Request for Information (RFI) from suppliers with respect to the possible further development and general maintenance of the Benelux Patent Platform (BPP). The Benelux Organisation for Intellectual Property commissioned the construction of the BPP and is the contractual owner of the Platform. The three Benelux countries use the system to conduct their work in the field of patents.
The BPP
In 2010, the national intellectual property offices of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg decided, within the framework of the Benelux Organisation for Intellectual Property, to set up a joint IT system. The resulting large-scale project consisted of a series of IT systems and an infrastructure supporting the handling, processing and maintenance of patents.
In the Benelux, patents are granted by the national authority in each of the three countries. The three national offices conduct their business processes at the national level, but the BPP facilitates smoother cooperation between the national offices and with other IP organisations, such as the European Patent Office and WIPO. Furthermore, thanks to the BPP, applicants for patents throughout the Benelux enjoy consistent service and quick, efficient processing of their applications.
Request for Information
It is important that patent applicants in the Benelux continue to be able to count on smooth, efficient services in the future. By means of the request for information recently published on SIMAP (website for public procurement in the EU), the Benelux Organisation for Intellectual Property, together with the three countries, is exploring, inter alia, the possibility of upgrading the current software and developing new functionalities. Options for managed services and potential hosting solutions for the BPP are also being scoped out as part of this exercise.