Reinstatement of priority is accepted on grounds of "due care."
OPI conducts only formality examination of invention patent applications. The applicant needs to file a search request within 18 months from the filing date, or submit a search report issued by any official search agency within 18 months from the priority date, and the judgment of novelty in the search report does not affect the Luxembourg patent granted.
OPI does not conduct substantive examination for utility models (short-term patents). If no search is carried out or search reports from other countries are provided, it will only be protected as a short-term patent.
6 years
20 years
no
Luxembourg Intellectual Property Office
English: Luxembourg Intellectual Property Office, Abbreviation: OPI
Website: Ministry of the Economy // The Luxembourg Government (gouvernement.lu)
Luxembourg Utility Model Patent Search: BPP eRegister (public.ws_lu)
yes. A Benelux design application may contain multiple designs, but not more than 50 designs.
The initial protection is 5 years, which can be renewed 4 times, each time for 5 years, and the maximum protection can be 25 years.
- via Paris Convention : 12 months from earliest priority date.
- via Nationalization of PCT : 20 months from the earliest priority date.
*Luxembourg is one of the only countries in the world that still retain Chapter I for 20 months to enter the national phase (the other is Tanzania). If it takes 30 months to enter the national phase, a request for international preliminary examination must be filed.
OPI conducts only formality examination of design patent applications.