Foreword

2024 was a special year for the Belgian Intellectual Property Office (IPObel). Firstly, Belgium held the presidency of the Council of the European Union during the first half of the year. With several legislative proposals of the patent package on the table and a diplomatic conference on the agenda, this proved to be an exceptional experience.

Furthermore, the IPObel continued to process patent applications and grant patents in 2024. There were 1,057 Belgian patent applications in 2024, 647 of which were filed by Belgian applicants. This marks a 12% decrease compared to the previous year. The decrease was most pronounced in the early months of 2024, although we do not have an immediate explanation for this. A total of 1,089 Belgian patents were granted in 2024, meaning there were more granted patents than submitted applications, since it generally takes 18 months to grant a patent after the application is submitted. Looking at European patent applications filed by Belgians, 2024 saw a record high of 2,615 applications, an increase by 68 applications compared to 2023 (2,547 applications) and 11 applications more than in 2022 (2,604 applications), which is the year with the second highest number of applications. The number of applications for supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) in 2024 was similar to 2023 (54 versus 51), and the number of restoration applications remained the same (20).

But let’s get back to the topic of the presidency of the Council of the EU. During this presidency, intense discussions on a proposed EU Regulation concerning compulsory patent licensing for crisis management led to a Coreper mandate for trilogues with the European Parliament and the Commission. Work also progressed on the reform of supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) for medicinal products and plant protection products, with a special focus on unitary certificates. Furthermore, a WIPO Treaty on intellectual property, genetic resources, and associated traditional knowledge was adopted on 24 May 2024, during the Belgian Presidency. Additionally, the Riyadh Design Law Treaty, which was partly prepared during the Belgian presidency, was adopted on 22 November 2024.

We also published a User Guide for the Belgian system of patents and SPCs in 2024. This comprehensive guide serves as a practical toolbox, providing a concise overview of the procedure, along with checklists for drafting and filing various documents. We hope that this guide, with its clear overview of the procedures, will save valuable time for both applicants and the staff of the Belgian Intellectual Property Office.

Another key event took place on 6 December 2024, when the first case was argued before the local division of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) in Brussels. The creation of this division within the offices of the FPS Economy enables Belgian businesses, SMEs, universities, and research institutes to have local access to this new court, where cases can be heard in English, Dutch, French, and German. The UPC, which is an international court, has been handling patent disputes between private parties since 1 June 2023.

There were so many significant developments in 2024 that I will leave it to you to find out more about them in this annual report.

Jérôme Debrulle
Director-general