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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

I. PATENTS (For more information click on the title)

What is an invention?
The majority of laws, the European Patent Convention as well as the American Patent Law or adherent national laws such as the Belgian Law upon patents of invention, do not provide a definition of an invention.
These laws define only indispensable criteria required for all inventions in order to form the object of a valid patent protection.
In particular, an invention has to meet a series of criteria of patentability, such as novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability in order to obtain protection by Patent Law.

II. TRADEMARKS (For more information click on the title)

What is a trademark?
Trademarks are word (verbal) or device (figurative) signs (also called logos) used to differentiate products and/or services of a commercial entity with reference to other similar products and/or services, provided or commercialised by third parties on a given market.
The trademark often symbolises the notoriety or the origin of products and/or services. As a result, the holder of a trademark possesses the right to counteract anyone who uses identical or similar marks for identical or similar products and/or services. Such an usage can indeed create confusion for the consumer concerning the origin of rendered or commercialised products and/or services.
Certain legislations, especially in the Benelux, also allow the protection of the outlook or packaging of a product. Thus, for instance the presentation of TIME ® magazine (red exterior band) is registered as a trademark so as to distinguish the product from its competitors products.

III. GEOGRAPHICAL DESIGNATIONS (For more information click on the title)

What is protected under the name of Geographical Designations?
To be taken into account as a designation of origin, it has to be "the name of a region, of a specific place or in exceptional cases of a country, that is used in the designation of an agricultural product or foodstuff that originates from that region, that specific place or that country and of which the production, preparation and processing take place in that geographical region".
Certain traditional names (geographical or not) can also be taken into consideration to get protection as a designation of origin.
Is protected as a geographical indication: "the name of a region, of a specific place or in exceptional cases of a country, that is used in the designation of an agricultural product or foodstuff that originates from that region, that specific place or that country and of which a certain propriety, the fame or another characteristic can be attributed to that geographical origin and of which the production, preparation and processing take place in that geographical region".
According to Regulation number 1726/98 the protection can also be granted to a logo if it meets the requirements.
Generic names cannot be registered.
Names cannot be registered if they are misleading.

IV. MODELS (For more information click on the title)

What is a model?
There is no general definition on industrial designs and models available. In general, it is considered that only the new aspect of a product can be protected as a model.
Only the exterior aspect of a product, namely: the 2 (design) or 3 (model) dimension form can be protected;
The form should be new, meaning that it should have distinct features which can be objectively determined when compared to existing products (either of what has already been filed, or of what is already known - cf. infra).
It should be related to aspects of a product, namely: a material aspect (for example it should not simply be an ornament for different product categories, unless all products bearing the ornament have been protected). In the Benelux, the law provides among other criteria that the product should have an utility purpose and that a sole ornamental form, such as for example a design for advertising, may not be protected by the legislation on designs and models. This utility requirement, however, does not exist in all countries. In Germany and in France, for instance, pure ornamental forms can be protected by the legislation on designs and models.

V. COPYRIGHT (For more information click on the title)

What is a copyright?
The law does not provide a definition of copyrights.
However, to be protected by the copyrights law, a creation should meet two conditions:
- being expressed in a certain form, allowing its communication to the public; thus, an idea cannot be protected;
- being original, namely: being determined by the personality of the author or authors.
These conditions allow the protection by copyright law of a wide range of creations, such as:
- pieces of music,
- technical and architectural drawings,
- books (even tourist guides or dictionaries),
- publicity slogans,
- hairstyle models,
- software,
- an anthology of texts or images (even without comments, whenever the author of the anthology made a choice following a personal classification; however, the compiling work as such is not protected, no more than a collection of books in itself),
- etc.