Office Actions

Examination of trademark applications on absolute grounds (descriptiveness of your trademark) has been introduced relatively late into the Benelux jurisdiction.

However, since the introduction BOIP (the Benelux IP Office) has become one of the strictest IP Offices within the European Union. Often word marks which are accepted as a European Union Trademark (EUTM), are refused as a Benelux trademark, because according to the Benelux examiners they could have a descriptive or laudatory meaning for the goods or services covered by the mark.