European Trade Mark and Design Network Event

Benelux Office for
Intellectual
Property
European Trade Mark and
Design Network Event
5 November 2015
Some eighty IP professionals from different
countries attended the European Trade Mark
and Design Network Event, held at the The
Hague headquarters of BOIP (Benelux Office
for Intellectual Property) on Thursday the 5th
of November. Aim of the conference was to
learn about the tools, services and common
practices BOIP and ETMDN have developed
for IP professionals and rights holders.
Complementarity
Hugues Derème, Deputy Director of BOIP, welcomed
the participants of today’s event: ‘Over the last few
years, complementarity has been a key word in the
European intellectual property landscape. As far
as trademarks and designs are concerned, the
European landscape is characterised by coexisting
IP systems: national (or Benelux in our case) and
Community systems.’
Filing Tools
Jef Vanderkerckhove, OHIM.
Cooperation Fund
The Cooperation Fund was established in 2010 with
the scope to support modernisation of National
Offices and OHIM and to improve user-end
experience across the EU trademark and design
community. Some of the tools support examiners,
others are aimed at businesses or have been built
for the enforcement community.
BOIP has successfully implemented numerous
projects, e.g. TMview, DSview, TMclass, Seniority,
Similarity and the Survey Tool.
Diter Wuytens, BOIP.
With the filing tools, the end user will be able
to perform all the activities associated with the
trademark or design lifecycle that pertain to the
trademark or design proprietor.
BOIP is also working on the implementation of a
tool for the renewal of designs through payment
in the same manner as is already available for
trademarks. Another important topic for the
coming years is ‘MyBOIP’. BOIP will invest in a
reliable, accessible, digital environment in which
its customers can see and manage all their
‘products’ (trademarks, designs and i-DEPOTS).
‘Bearing in mind that IP systems and IP offices
can justify their existence only if they serve user
interests, we had to make that coexistence efficient
and harmonious. In other words, we had to make
the complementarity of IP systems tangible.’
According to Hugues Derème, this is the essence of
the European Trade Mark and Design Network!
Efficient classification
Miguel Olivares, OHIM.
Convergence Programme
The OHIM Convergence Programme (launched in
2011) links OHIM with National Offices and User
Associations in an effort to reach common ground
in areas where IP offices have different practices.
It complements the work being done to create
common IT tools under the Cooperation Fund.
The Harmonised Database is undoubtedly a
remarkable achievement. Six shared communi­
cations have been issued so far and there is major
progress in the field of designs.
Hugues Derème, BOIP.
Dennis Scheirs, OHIM.
The Harmonised Database (HDB) – the world’s
largest multilingual database of descriptions of
goods and services – is meant to assist users in
creating a list of goods and services. The HDB
facilitates the classification process, improves
application quality and saves time. Because every
HDB term has been pre-approved by classification
experts from every EU office, there is no risk of
classification objections to your application.
The HDB is a dynamic and living database of
terms, constantly updated in an open and
transparent way.
Demo sessions
TM e-filing
The impact of organisational
culture on business
George von Staden, owner of GVS and partner of the CMT Group, shared his views on how (organisational) culture
impacts business. Organisational structures can inhibit or stimulate, depending on how effectively they influence the
relationships and the workflow.
Mr. Von Staden took the participants on a journey, touching on a wide variety of subjects, such as key characteristics,
types of organisational cultures, the importance and impact of organisational cultures, sustaining and maintaining
culture, and managing and understanding change. He also briefly spoke about topics such as understanding structure,
building innovative culture, and improving structure and culture.
This demonstration of TM e-filing emphasized the
advantages of the tool:
- Intuitive and user-friendly filing of trademark applications
- Quick and easy to find and select all the relevant goods
and/or services (TM class)
- Immediate PDF confirmation in your mailbox, with the
filing number and a financial overview
DS e-filing
European Trade Mark and Design Network
The European Trade Mark and Design Network
(ETMDN) connects National and Regional Intellectual
Property Offices, User Associations and other IP
Organisations, working together towards a true trade
mark and design system in Europe. This means that
common practices, services and tools are focused on
the needs of IP professionals and rights holders.
ETMDN aims to provide a high-quality experience
for the IP-system users by providing up-to-date
electronic services, facilitating access to information,
and converging practices regarding how IP offices
examine and evaluate trademarks and designs.
E-Opposition
Software Package
The software package consists of a web-based
suite of tools supporting the trademarks and
designs lifecycle. It is an e-business and back
office solution for IP offices, including OHIM.
The envisaged software platform will be highly
customisable and flexible so as to adapt to the
diverse needs of the participating offices.
New front and back offices!
At the end of the meeting, BOIP Deputy Director
Hugues Derème summarised the outcomes of
the event, while stating that he was very proud of
the successes recorded in the Cooperation Fund
and the Convergence Programme. ‘BOIP has put
a completely new front office into production and
implemented a new back office for designs. Other
useful instruments include the Similarity tool, the
User Satisfaction Survey, and of course TMclass.
The three main advantages of DS e-filing are:
- Up-to-date online register
- Easy online filing and uploading of design images
- Quick and easy to find and select all the relevant goods
and/or services (EuroLocarno)
In terms of content, the Harmonised Database is
undoubtedly a remarkable achievement. Combined
with the six common communications issued so
far, we can definitely congratulate the Convergence
Programme.’
Mr. Derème concluded: ‘All this means gigantic benefits to users. These benefits have always been the
driving force and are at the heart of our motivation!’
This demo session highlighted the following advantages:
- Online filing tool of oppositions saves paperwork
- Easy import of the disputed trademark and the right
invoked from TMview
- Immediate PDF confirmation in your mailbox
Colophon
This is a publication of the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property
(BOIP) in cooperation with the Office for Harmonization in
the Internal Market (OHIM) and the European Trademark and
Design Network (ETMDN). The BOIP is the official body for the
registration of trademarks, designs and drawings in the Benelux.
W www.boip.int
@BOIPnews
BBIE Benelux-Bureau voor
de Intellectuele Eigendom
Benelux Office for
Intellectual Property (BOIP)