Front Office eFiling
1) What is the Front Office eFiling web application?
In cooperation with the European Patent Office (EPO), the Belgian Intellectual Property Office (IPObel) has developed 5 electronic forms since 2014. These were integrated in the Belgian eOLF (electronic online filing) application for the electronic online efiling of:
- Belgian patent applications (eOLF form BEPAT1),
- follow-up correspondence relating to filed Belgian patent applications (eOLF form BEPOST),
- applications for a Belgian supplementary protection certificate (SPC) and related follow-up correspondence (eOLF form BESPC),
- documents concerning European patents designating Belgium (eOLF form BEEPNP), and
- requests to amend the patrimonial information of a patent or a supplementary protection certificate (or the corresponding applications) (eOLF form BECHANGE).
These eOLF forms are used extensively by patent attorneys. 93% of Belgian patent applications and 100% of Belgian supplementary protection certificate applications were filed electronically online with the IPObel in 2024.
The Belgian eOLF application is a client/server application based on technology that is over twenty years old. The European Patent Office has now developed a new web-based application, called ‘Front Office eFiling’. It is made available for national patent offices and can be configured further based on their needs.
Between 2023 and 2025, the IPObel worked with the European Patent Office and an external IT provider to configure a Belgian version of the Front Office (FO) eFiling web application. It will go live on 30/09/2025 and will include the following electronic forms:
Row
| Front Office eFiling form | for the submission of: |
1 | National patent applications | - Belgian patent applications |
2 | National patent applications - subsequent action
| - follow-up correspondence for any submissions mentioned in row 1 |
3 | EP Document (submitted for the national phase) | - translations of the claims of published European patent applications (not yet available on 30 September 2025); - appointments of a representative for a granted European patent (available for a filing of an appointment of a representative for a European patent for which the mention of the grant has already been published in the European Patent Bulletin)
|
4 | EP Document (submitted for the national phase) - subsequent action
| - follow-up correspondence for any submissions mentioned in row 3 |
5 | SPC applications
| - applications for a Belgian supplementary protection certificate for medicinal products or plant protection products; - applications for a paediatric extension of a Belgian supplementary protection certificate for a medicinal product
|
6 | SPC applications - subsequent action | - follow-up correspondence for any submissions mentioned in row 5 |
7 | Request for change | - requests to change any patrimonial information of a patent or supplementary protection certificate (or the corresponding application), e.g. change of name or address, licence, transfer, pledge, etc.
|
8 | Request for change - subsequent action
| - follow-up correspondence for any submissions mentioned in row 7 |
These electronic forms are integrated in the back office of the Belgian version of the Benelux Patent Platform, which the IPObel uses to manage filing, examination, publication and grant processes for patents, documents, and requests concerning patents and supplementary protection certificates.
The FO eFiling application can be used to create and send submissions in Belgium’s three national languages (Dutch, French, and German). Depending on the type of applicant and where they are domiciled or where their office is, one of these languages must be chosen as the language of proceedings. The FO eFiling forms themselves can be completed in one of the four user interface languages (Dutch, French, German or English). The chosen interface language does not impact the language of proceedings, which is used to draw up and send submissions.
Documents submitted using the FO eFiling web application must be in PDF format. DNA sequence listings must follow WIPO Standard ST.26 (XML or ZIP). If the electronically submitted documents are illegible or incomplete (for example, virus-infected), the IPObel will deem them not received.
After a submission has been sent to IPObel by means of the FO eFiling web application, the system automatically generates a receipt. The user can also choose to have an automatic email confirmation of the send of the submission generated by the application sent to his email address.
When a Belgian patent application is submitted electronically, an automatic receipt is thus generated, which includes the Case ID (file reference), the number and the date of receipt of the application.
If the conditions of Article XI.17 of the Code of Economic Law (CEL) are met, the IPObel will send the applicant or representative an official receipt of the Belgian patent application, drawn up and signed by an IPObel staff member, confirming the date when the application was actually received (date of receipt), the filing date and the application number, as required by Article XI.15(2) CEL.
If the conditions of Article XI.17 of the CEL are not met, the IPObel will notify the applicant or representative and give them three months to rectify and/or complete the Belgian patent application.
If the applicant or representative does not receive an officially signed receipt or notification from the IPObel within one month of the date of submission of the electronically filed application for a Belgian patent (even if he received an automatically generated receipt), he needs to contact the IPObel by email (opridie-tech@economie.fgov.be) or by telephone (0800 120 33) to have the receipt of the application confirmed.
A similar process applies to applications for supplementary protection certificates (for medicinal or plant-protection products) and to applications for an extension of a supplementary protection certificate for a medicinal product. The IPObel is required to assign a filing date to these applications, in accordance with Articles XI.93 and XI.94 of the CEL.
A technical problem may cause a difference between the moment when an electronic application is submitted and the date when the IPObel actually receives it. In the event of a technical malfunction, electronically submitted documents may not reach the IPObel at all. In that case the IPObel cannot guarantee the actual date of receipt of the submitted documents, particularly if they were submitted outside office hours. Any detected problems should be reported via efiling@economie.fgov.be and/or opridie-tech@economie.fgov.be, and the application should then possibly be submitted using another official channel.
The FO eFiling web application subsequently generates a request form (a PDF file ‘Submission file’) containing almost all data and attachments entered by the user during the ‘draft’, ‘sign’, ‘pay’, and ‘send’ stages in a FO eFiling form.
The formats of numbers assigned to applications submitted on paper, by fax, using the eOLF application or using the FO eFiling web application are (for a submission in 2025) :
Type of application
| Submitted on paper or by fax | Submitted via eOLF | Submitted via FO eFiling |
Application for a Belgian patent | BE2025/0nnn
| BE2025/4nnn of BE2025/5nnn of BE2025/6nnn
| BE2025/7nnn of BE2025/8nnn
|
Application for a supplementary protection certificate | 2025C/0nn
| BE2025C/5nn
| BE2025C/7nn
|
Request to register a request for change (e.g. change of name or address, licence, assignment, etc.)
| RC20250nnnnn
| RC20251nnnnn | RC20252nnnnn
|
It is not possible to submit a test application or test document to the IPObel using the Belgian FO eFiling application.
2) Who can use the Front Office eFiling web application?
The IPObel distinguishes four user categories for the FO eFiling web application:
1) Representatives (patent attorneys, sollicitors, and employees acting on behalf of an applicant),
2) Paralegal staff of a representative,
3) Applicants, and
4) Third parties who wish to submit observations or a request to register a change of patrimonial information (called a “status change”).
A FO eFiling account is required to use the FO eFiling web application. Representatives and their paralegals may apply for a FO eFiling account from 30 September 2025 onwards. Applicants and third parties will be able to obtain FO eFiling accounts at a later stage.
The following section 3) explains how a FO eFiling account can be practically applied for.
3) How to use the Front Office eFiling web application?
The use of the FO eFiling web application requires: a PC, an internet connection, a browser (Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Apple Safari, Mozilla Firefox, etc.), a personal email address, and a FO eFiling account activated by the IPObel.
The URL of the Belgian FO eFiling web application is https://efiling.patents.economie.fgov.be/.
Users need to apply for a FO eFiling account at the IPObel, using the registration form “Welcome to your personal Front Office”, accessible via the link “Don’t have an account? Find out how to get one” on the FO eFiling home page. Once your personal details and any documents have been checked, the IPObel will confirm the activation of the requested FO eFiling account by email, sent to the applicant’s personal email address. In addition to a user name and password, a two-factor authentication method (see the web page “Mobile Authenticator Setup”) is required to access the FO eFiling web application.
Each user receives a FO eFiling account of the individual type. A FO eFiling account of the individual type includes for its holder the roles ‘drafter’, ‘signer’, ‘payer’, and ‘sender’ for the submission of an application or document. In addition, the FO eFiling account of the individual type also includes the role of ‘administrator’. An administrator can add other holders of a FO eFiling account to an organisation and assign them one or more roles of ‘drafter’, ‘signer’, ‘payer’, or ‘sender’ within that organisation. Up to 9 organisations can be set up by one administrator, and a holder of an account of the individual type can be a member of up to 9 different organisations. Account holders with the role of ‘signer’ may only sign submissions of applications and documents in the Belgian FO eFiling web application if they meet the requirements of the Belgian patent and SPC legislation and regulations to act as an applicant or an applicant’s representative before the IPObel. More information on how to sign applications and documents and who is allowed to sign them, is provided in a separate information sheet (in French | in Dutch).
The version of the FO eFiling web application, which will go live on 30 September 2025, does not include an address book for storing names and addresses of applicants, inventors, and representatives. The European Patent Office has developed such an address book in the meantime and made it available to national patent offices to be integrated in their national version of the FO eFiling web application. It is scheduled to be put into production in the Belgian FO eFiling web application in early 2026. There is a temporary work-around for the missing address book feature in the FO eFiling web application: create a draft submission for frequent applicants (in the draft mode) with the details of the applicant(s)/inventor(s)/representative(s) already filled in. Then clone this draft application every time a new submission for that applicant needs to be drawn up.
Unlike the Belgian eOLF application, which is a client/server application, the FO eFiling web application stores draft submissions and sent submissions (including attachments) on a secure IPObel server, not on the user’s PC. There will be no storage time limit for the storing of draft submissions and sent submissions on the go-live date (30 September 2025). A limit will be introduced later after monitoring server usage during the first few months after the FO eFiling web application has gone live. Users will be notified in advance of any draft submissions and sent submissions (including attachments) that may be deleted from the memory. By then the sent submissions will already have been imported in the back office of the Belgian version of the Benelux Patent Platform.
To allow the developer of the Belgian FO eFiling web application to carry out updates and improvements, the FO eFiling web application will occasionally be unavailable. The developer will notify the IPObel in advance of any planned downtime. The IPObel will then inform users by email of the date and duration of the downtime. In the event of unplanned downtime of the Belgian FO eFiling web application, other legal and quick application channels remain available to the users: eOLF and fax. The Belgian eOLF application will eventually be taken out of production (see section 5) below).
4) Where to get help when using the Front Office eFiling web application?
The IPObel provides an online Front Office eFiling Helpdesk at the following email address: efiling@economie.fgov.be.
You can contact the Front Office eFiling Helpdesk about the following topics:
- requesting a FO eFiling account;
- accessing the FO eFiling web application using a FO eFiling account;
- a downtime of the FO eFiling web application;
- using the electronic FO eFiling forms to submit applications and documents concerning patents and supplementary protection certificates for medicinal and plant-protection products;
- any incidents and technical problems encountered when using the FO eFiling web application.
The users are requested to include a brief description of the nature of the subject in the subject line of an email to the Front Office eFiling Helpdesk.
Emails to the Front Office eFiling Helpdesk are processed on working days between 9:00–16:00.
Any questions regarding the eOLF application need to be sent to the BPP-BE Helpdesk of the Belgian Intellectual Property Office at the following email address: piie.bpp-helpdesk@economie.fgov.be.
5) When will the Belgian eOLF application be taken out of production?
After the FO eFiling web application goes live on 30 September 2025, the IPObel’s eOLF application will remain available for at least six weeks for users who were registered for eOLF before 26/09/2025. They will still be able to submit applications and documents. However, users of both the FO eFiling web application and the eOLF application must ensure that the same application/document is not submitted twice via these applications. The IPObel will notify the users in advance about the exact date when the Belgian eOLF application will be taken out of production.
The FO eFiling web application also allows electronic subsequent action forms to be used for sending information and any documents for (applications for) patents and supplementary protection certificates that were previously submitted on paper, by fax, or via the eOLF application.