Registering a brand name or trademark with the Benelux Trademark Office

Trademarks and logos can be protected by trademark law. A trademark is a sign that distinguishes the products or services of your company from those of competitors. Your trademark can be the name of your service or product, but it can also be the shape of a product's packaging. Think of a Coca-Cola bottle, for example. You can protect your trademark and/or logo by registering it with the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property (BOIP), which is the official office for trademark registration in the Benelux.

Please note: this is an article from 2016.

Can I use trademarks after registering my brand?

Yes, you certainly may. There are different symbols, and there's quite a bit of confusion about which symbols belong to which. For brands, most of the confusion concerns the symbols: ® (R), © (C), and ™ (TM).

Do I need to use the copyright symbol for my copyright?

The © or (C) ‘copyright symbol’ is not a trademark, but indicates that a website or piece of text, for example, is protected by copyright. In the Netherlands, and all other countries that are signatories to the Berne Convention, it is not mandatory to use the copyright symbol, as there are no formal requirements for copyright to arise. When a creation is sufficiently creative and original, copyright already exists and it is automatically protected.

You use the ® symbol when a trademark has been officially registered with the relevant government trademark office (in the United States, this is the USPTO). The ™ symbol can be used by anyone who claims ownership of a trademark, whether it's registered or not. It's a way to assert your claim of ownership.

To have trademark protection, you must meet formal requirements. This means you need to file a valid deposit of the trademark (word and/or logo) with the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property (BOIP). When the trademark deposit has led to a valid registration, your trademark is protected in the Benelux. You are then also allowed to use the trademark symbol ® (R), which stands for ‘registered trademark’. However, this is not mandatory, as your trademark is protected by the registration with the BOIP even if you do not use the symbol.

™ (TM) is often used when a trademark has been filed but not yet registered. Once the trademark is registered, you can use the ® (R) symbol. There are no established rules for the use of either symbol in the Benelux, but they must not be used in a misleading way. Therefore, you may only use the symbols if it genuinely pertains to a (future) registered trademark.