November 2018. If you have a Benelux trademark registration which needs renewing in the first half of 2019, you can save money by reapplying before the end of this year, since the cost of doing so will be going up on 1 January.

Fees for registering and extending trademarks in the Benelux will be increasing from 2019

Charge per category

The Benelux Office for Intellectual Property currently charges a fixed fee for trademark registrations and renewals for up to three product categories. From 1 January 2019, it will be abandoning this system and charging a separate fee for each class.From then on, registering and renewing trademark protection in more than one class will be more expensive.

Apply in 2018

However, you can avoid this increase if your renewal date falls within the first six months of 2019, since the BOIP allows renewal applications to be made up to half a year before the expiry date. So for these trademarks, we can submit a renewal application for you before the year-end, so that you only have to pay the old tariff.

Applies to new trademarks too

The new regime doesn’t just apply to renewals but also to new trademark registrations, for which the fee for multiple cclasses will also be increasing on 1 January. So if you’re planning a new Benelux registration, you’d be wise to submit it in 2018.

Feel free to contact your advisor at Chiever for more information.