The Belgian Intellectual Property Office (ORPI), a public service, will have to repair the broken pots in the absence of a penalty of 1,000 euros per day.
The case submitted a few weeks ago to the sagacity of the judges of the Brussels French-speaking company court started in 2014 when the European patent application filed by Merck for new amino-azaheterocyclic carboxamides was validated. In the process, Merck mandates the company Vereenigde Octrooibureaux (VO) to have this patent validated in Belgium by the Belgian Intellectual Property Office.
For the case to be heard, it was necessary to file with the ORPI a version translated into one of the three national languages of Belgium. Ultimately, the complete translation of the patent in question was not filed on time and the Belgian State never pointed out this lack of communication of the translation, not offering Merck the possibility of correcting its error within the deadlines.
At the same time, Merck continued to pay annual maintenance fees (annuities), proof according to the German group of its undeniable desire to validate the patent in question. It was not until the payment of the eighth annuity that the ORPI informed Merck that its patent had been registered as “ineffective” due to the lack of complete translation into one of the three national languages used in Belgium.
The filing office then contacted the ORPI to ask it to accept the eighth annuity and to declare that the patent was “in force”, a request rejected by the ORPI. Faced with the impossibility of reaching an agreement, Merck took the Belgian State to court. The group considers that the Belgian State (through the ORPI) has violated the principles of legitimate trust and good administration.
Considering that the fault committed had caused damage, the court followed Merck’s request to award it compensation. At this point, the judges awarded a provisional euro. Just as they condemned the Belgian State to mention the existence of Merck’s rights on the European patent under penalty of a penalty of 1,000 euros per day of delay, with a ceiling fixed at 100,000 euros.
