EPO & Belgium: bilateral cooperation plan

On December 6, 2016, the EPO President and the President of Committee of Direction of Belgian Ministry of Economy signed a cooperation plan in the field of IP.

The main purposes of the plan are cooperation on improvement of online services, namely e-filing, bilateral exchange of patent data and providing access to information through the Federated European Patent Register.

Besides, apart from the bilateral cooperation plan, the EPO assists the Belgian IP Office with implementing the Benelux Patent Platform (BPP) established by the Benelux states (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg) to facilitate the overall process of patent registration for applicants and patent holders.

The parties have expressed their confidence in fruitful cooperation which will help to bring their services on a new level.

Author: Lynda Miller