WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION 
ORGANISATION MONDIALE DU COMMERCE IP/N/l/NLD/P/2 
6 February 1997 
ORGANIZACION MUNDIAL DEL COMERCIO 
(97-0448) 
Council for Trade-Related Aspects 
of Intellectual Property Rights Original: English! 
anglaisl 
ingles 
MAIN DEDICATED INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAWS AND REGULATIONS 
NOTIFIED UNDER ARTICLE 63.2 OF THE AGREEMENT 
Netherlands 
The present document reproduces! the Patent Act 1910, as amended, as notified by 
the Netherlands under Article 63.2 of the Agreement (see document IP/N/1/NLD/1/Rev.1). 
Conseil des aspects des droits de propriete 
intellectuelle qui touchent au commerce 
PRINCIPALES LOIS ET REGLEMENTATIONS CONSACREES 
A LA PROPRIETE INTELLECTUELLE NOTIFIEES 
AU TITRE DE L'ARTICLE 63:2 DE L'ACCORD 
Pays-Bas 
Le present document contient le texte! de la Loi de 1910 sur les brevets, telle qu'elle a ete 
modifiee, notifiee par les Pays-Bas au titre de l'article 63:2 de l'Accord (voir le 
document IP/N I lINLDI lIRev.1). 
Consejo de los Aspectos de los Derechos de Propiedad 
Intelectual relacionados con el Comercio 
PRINCIPALES LEYES Y REGLAMENTOS DEDICADOS A LA 
PROPIEDAD INTELECTUAL NOTIFICADOS EN VIRTUD 
DEL pARRAFO 2 DEL ARTiCULO 63 DEL ACUERDO 
Paises Bajos 
En el presente documento se reproduce! la Ley de Patentes de 1910 en su version enmendada, 
que fue notificada por los Paises Bajos de conformidad con el parrafo 2 del articulo 63 del Acuerdo 
(vease el documento IP/N/lINLD/lIRev.1). 
! English only I anglais seulementlingles solamente. IP/N/lINLD/P/2 
Page 2 
INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY -MAY 1989 
(This leXI replaces Ih£' on£' preliouslv pub/ish£'d under Ih£' sam£' cod£' numb£'r) 
NETHERLANDS 
Patents Act of the Kingdom 
(of November 7, 1910, as last amended 
by the Act of the Kingdom of May 29, 1987)* 
TABLE OF CONTENTS" 
Chapter I: Definitions Patents: A General Notion Subject Maller 
for Which and Persons to Whom Patents are Granted 
Chapter I1: The Grant of Patents 
Part I: The Patent Office and the Industrial Property Office 
Part I1: Grant of the Patent 
Part Ill: The Maintenance of Secrecy in Respect of the Content of 
Patent Applications 
Part IV: Conversion of European Patent Applications 
Part V: International Applications 
Chapter IIA: Provisions Governing European Patents 
Chapter Ill: Legal ElTects of the Patent 
Part I: Rights and Obligations of the Proprietor of the Patent 
Part I1: The Patent as an Object of Property 
Part Ill: Enforcement of the Patent 
Chapter IV: Term of the Patent Claiming the Right to the Patent 
Chapter V: Court Proceedings in Respect of Disputes Relating to 
Patents 
Chapter VI: Special Provisions for the Netherlands Antilles and 
Aruba 
Chapter VII: Provisions in Respect of Entry into Force and Final 
Provisions LAWS AND TREATIES 
S£'clions 
Ito 12A 
13 to 19D 
20 to 29 
29A to 29G 
29H and 291 
29J to 29L 
29M to 29Q 
30 to 36 
37 to 42 
43 to 46 
47 to 53 
54 to 57A 
58 to 64 
65 to 71 
Chapter I 
Definitions. Patents: A General Notion. 
SUbject Matter for Which and Persons 
to Whom Patents are Granted European Patent Convention shall mean the 
Convention on the Grant of European Patents signed in 
Munich on October 5, 1973; 
1. In this Act of the Kingdom and the Rules based 
on it: 
• Du/ch lill£': Rijksoctrooiwet 
En/rv into/arc£': December I. 1987 
Soure£': Bijlag£, bij hel Bijblad bij De Induslriel£' Eig£'ndom 
~arch 15. 1979. and November 16. 1987 
.vOI£': This text is based on an official English translation 
furnished by the Netherlands authorities and prepared by C Tak-van 
den Bergh. who is the copyright owner thereof 
•• Added by WIPO 
NL European Patent shall mean a patent granted under 
the European Patent Convention, insofar as it has been 
granted for the Kingdom; 
Cooperation Treaty shall mean the Patent Cooper­
ation Treaty done at Washington on June 19, 1970; 
International Application shall mean an application 
filed in pursuance of the Cooperation Treaty, in which 
the Kingdom is designated and from which it is evident 
that the applicant wishes to obtain for the Kingdom a 
patent granted in accordance with this Act of the 
Kingdom . INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY -MAY 1989 
1 A. A person who has invented a new product or a 
new process shall, upon his application, be granted a 
patent 
2.-(1) Products or processes shall be considered 
not to be new only when they already form part of the 
state of the art. 
(2) The state of the art shall comprise everything 
made available to the public by means of a description 
or in any other way before the date of filing of the 
application 
(3) Furthermore, the state of the art shall also 
comprise the content of previously filed applications 
which were laid open to public inspection, in accor­
dance with Section 22C or 25(2), on or after the date 
referred to in paragraph (2), above. 
(4) The state of the art shall also comprise the 
con tent of European patent applications as provided for 
in the European Patent Convention and of international 
applications as provided for in Article 158(1) and (2) of 
the said Convention whose filing date, in accordance 
with Article 54(2) and (3) of the said Convention, is 
prior to the date referred to in paragraph (2), above, and 
which have been published on or after that date under 
Article 93 of the said Convention or under Article 21 of 
the Cooperation Treaty, respectively, provided that the 
Kingdom has been designated in the published appli­
cation. 
(5) This Section shall not apply to everything that 
was made available to the public within six months 
preceding the filing of a patent application as a direct or 
indirect consequence of either an evident abuse in 
relation to the applicant or his legal predecessor, or the 
fact that the applicant or his legal predecessor displayed 
the product in question or showed the process in 
question at an official, or officially recognized. interna­
tional exhibition faIling within the terms of the 
Convention on International Exhibitions signed in 
Paris on November 22, 1928, and last revised by 
Protocol of November 30, 1972. 
(6) Official recognition of exhibitions in the N ether­
lands shall be accorded by Our Minister of Economic 
Affairs, and of exhibitions in the Netherlands Antilles 
or Aruba by the Government of the country 
concerned. 
2A.-(l) The subject matter for which a patent 
application has been filed shall be considered as an 
invention if, before the date of filing, having regard to IP 1Nl 1 INLD/P 12 
Page 3 
LAWS AND TREATIES 
the state of the art, it was not obvious to a person skilled 
in the art. 
(2) Where this Section applies, the content of the 
patent applications referred to in Section 2(3) and (4) 
shall not be taken into consideration. 
3.-(1) An invention shall only be patentable if it is 
capable of procuring some result in any field ofindustry, 
including agriculture. 
(2) Nevertheless no patent shall be granted in 
respect of plant or animal varieties or essentially 
biological processes for the production of plants or 
animals, with the exception of microbiological 
processes or the products thereof. 
4. {Repealed] 
5. No patent shall be granted for products or 
processes the publication of which would be contrary to 
public order or morality. 
5A. Each patent application shall relate to one 
invention only, or to a group of inventions linked in 
such a way that they form a single general inventive 
concept. Further rules concerning this may be adopted 
by Order in Council of the Realm. 
6. Subject to Sections 9, 10 and It, the applicant 
shall be deemed to be the inventor. 
7.-(1) A person who has duly filed, in any of the 
countries party to the International Union for the 
Protection of Industrial Property, in accordance with 
the laws in force in that country, or, in accordance with 
treaties concluded between two or more of the above­
mentioned countries, an application for a patent or for a 
utility certificate or for the protection of a utility model 
shall enjoy a right of priority within the Kingdom for a 
r.eriod of 12 months from the date of filing the appli­
cation with regard to the obtaining of a patent for the 
subject matter in respect of which the protection 
referred to above has been applied for. The foregoing 
shall apply mutatis mutandis to a person who has 
applied for an inventor's certificate if the relevant legis­
lation provides for the possibility of choosing between 
the grant of such a certificate or of a patent. 
(2) By an application within the meaning of para­
graph (I) shall be understood any application of which 
the date of filing can be ascertained, whatever may be 
the subsequent fate of the application. 
NL IP IN I lINLD/P 12 
Page 4 
INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY -MAY 1989 
(3) If the person entitled to do so has filed more than 
one application for the same subject matter, only the 
first application shall serve as a basis for claiming a right 
of priority. Nevertheless, a subsequent application for 
protection in the same country may serve as a basis for 
claiming a right of priority, provided that, at the date of 
filing the subsequent application, the previous appli­
cation has been withdrawn, abandoned or refused 
without having been laid open to public inspection and 
without having left any rights outstanding, and 
provided it has not yet served as a basis for claiming a 
right of priority. If a subsequent application has served 
as a basis for claiming a right of priority, the previous 
application may not thereafter serve as a basis for 
claiming a right of priority. 
(4) For the purposes of Sections 2(2), (3) and (4) and 
2A, the effect of the right of priority shall be that the 
application for which this right exists shall be deemed to 
have been filed on the filing date of the application 
which confers the right of priority 
(5) The right of priority cannot be refused on the 
ground that the applicant claims more than one right of 
priority, even if the rights of priority originated in 
different countries. Neither can priority be refused on 
the ground that the subject matter for which a patent 
application has been filed comprises elements for which 
no rights were claimed in the claims formulated in the 
application in the country of origin, provided that the 
documents of the latter application mention the product 
in question or the process in question with sufficient 
accuracy 
(6) A person who wishes to avail himselfofthe right 
of priority must claim it in writing upon filing the appli­
cation or within three months thereafter, stating the 
filing date of the application upon which his claim is 
based and also the country in which or for which it was 
filed; within 16 months after filing the application upon 
which his claim is based, he must state the number of 
that application. Finally, he must submit the documents 
which shall be designated by the Patent Office before 
such date as may be fixed by that Office. 
(7) The right of priority shall lapse ifit has not been 
claimed upon filing the application or within three 
months from the filing date of the application or if the 
documents required for that purpose have not been 
submitted prior to the date fixed therefor. 
NL S. [Repealed] 
SA.-(l) The applicant may divide a previously 
filed application by filing a divisional application for LAWS AND TREATIES 
part of the contents thereof. The latter application shall 
be deemed to be filed on the filing date of the original 
application except insofar as the provisions of Sections 
22(1), 22A(5) and 22C(3) are applicable 
(2) The division of an application pursuant to a 
decision of a Division of the Patent Office to the effect 
that the application is in conflict with the provisions of 
or under Section 5A shall be effected within three 
months from the date on which such a decision has 
become final. The division of an application on the 
applicant's own initiative shall be possible until six 
months, at the latest, from the date of filing a request as 
referred to in Section 22J and thereafter with the written 
permission of the Patent Office. 
9. The applicant shall not be entitled to a patent 
insofar as the content of his application has been 
obtained unlawfully from subject matter made by or 
worked by another person or from descriptions, 
drawings or models belonging to another person, 
without that person's consent The latter person shall 
remain entitled to a patent to the extent that the subject 
matter thus unlawfully obtained is patentable Where 
Section 2(3) and (4) is applicable to the subject matter of 
an application filed by the person from whom the 
above-mentioned subject matter has been so taken, the 
application filed by the person who has so obtained it 
shall not be taken into consideration 
10.-(1) Where the product or the process for which 
a patent has been applied for has been invented by a 
person employed in the service of another, the nature of 
which service entails the use of the employee's special 
knowledge towards the making of inventions of the 
same kind as that to which the patent application 
relates, the employer shall be entitled to the patent 
Where Section 2(3) and (4) is applicable to the subject 
matter of an application filed by the employer referred 
to in the preceding sentence, an application filed by a 
person not having any right to a patent shall not be taken 
into consideration. 
(2) Where the inventor cannot be deemed to have 
found compensation for the lack of being granted a 
patent in the salary he earns or in any extra remuner­
ation he receives, the employer shall be obliged to award 
him equitable remuneration having regard to the pecu­
niary importance of the invention and the circum­
stances under which it was made Where the employer 
and the inventor cannot agree on the amount of that 
remuneration, they may apply to the Patent Office in 
writing with a request that the amount be determined by INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY-MAY 1989 
the Patent Office. The Patent Office shall comply with 
that request. The parties shall be bound by its decision, 
which shall be accompanied by the reasons therefor. If 
the employer and the inventor do not avail themselves 
of this right, Section 56 shall be applicable. Any right of 
the inventor to claim under this provision shall lapse 
after expiration of three years from the date of the grant 
of the patent. 
(3) Any stipulation which differs from the provi­
sions laid down in the preceding paragraph shall be 
void 
11. Where a product or a process has been invented 
by two or more persons who worked together by 
agreement, they shall have a joint right to a patent 
12. [Repealed} 
12A.-(1) Any person who has made an invention 
for which a patent application has been filed, but who 
cannot claim any title to a patent under Section 10(1), or 
under an agreement concluded with the applicant or his 
predecessors in title, shall have a right to be mentioned 
as the inventor in the patent. 
(2) Any stipulation which differs from the provi­
sions laid down in the preceding paragraph shall be 
void. 
Chapter 11 
The Grant of Patents 
Part I 
The Patent Office and 
The Industrial Property Office 
13. Applications for a patent shall be filed at the 
Patent Office and patents shall be granted by the Patent 
Office 
14.-(1) There exists in the Netherlands an Indus­
trial Property Office This Office is an institution of the 
Netherlands It shall serve, insofar as patents are 
concerned, as the central registry for the Kingdom, 
pursuant to Article 12 of the International Convention 
for the Protection of Industrial Property The Patent 
Office forms part of the Industrial Property Office 
(2) The Patent Office shall consist of: 
(a) a Central Division; 
(b) Examining Divisions; (e) Appeal Divisions; 
(d) Special Divisions. IP/N/1/NLDIPI2 
Page 5 
LAWS AND TREATIES 
An Examining Division or a Special Division may 
consist of one member. 
(3) The President, one or more Vice-Presidents and 
the other members of the Patent Office shall be 
appointed and dismissed by Us. Before taking office, the 
President shall make a pledge to Us and the members 
shall make a pledge to the President, the contents of 
which shall be determined by Order in Council. 
(4) The President of the Patent Office shall be the 
Director of the Industrial Property Office at the same 
time. 
(5) Wherever the Industrial Property Office is 
mentioned in this Act of the Kingdom, it shall be 
considered a reference to the Office instituted under 
paragraph (I), above, unless there is evidence to the 
contrary. 
15.-(1) The further organization and the procedure 
of the Patent Office shall be regulated by Order in 
Council, subject to the provisions laid down in this 
Chapter. 
(2) The Order in Council referred to in the preceding 
paragraph shall regulate inter alia: 
(a) the number of Vice-Presidents and members of 
the Patent Office; 
(b) the composition of the Divisions and the powers 
of the Divisions to perform the duties allocated to the 
Patent Office; 
(c) the procedure on deputizing for the President; 
(d) the summoning and hearing of applicants, 
opponents and other interested parties, as well as 
witnesses and experts in the execution of this Act of the 
Kingdom, and the compensation to be awarded to 
witnesses and experts; 
(e) the registers to be kept pursuant to this Act of the 
Kingdom and the procedure in respect of entries to be 
made in those registers of documents other than patent 
applications; 
(j) the requirements with which documents other 
than patent applications shall comply for entry in the 
said registers pursuant to this Act of the Kingdom; 
(g) [repealed} 
(h) the procedure for making the registers of the 
Patent Office available for inspection by the public; 
(i) the hours of business during which the Industrial 
Property Office shall be open to the public in the 
execution of this Act of the Kingdom. 
NL JP IN I1/NLD/P /2 
Page 6 
INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY -MAY 1989 
(3) By Order in Council fees shall be payable for: 
(a) entry in the register of documents other than 
patent applications; 
(b) issuing copies or extracts from the registers of the 
Patent Office; 
(e) issuing priority certificates; 
(d) extending the time periods determined by virtue 
of this Act of the Kingdom; 
(e) issuing copies as provided for in Section 29(i). 
16. The order in which rights shall arise from entry 
in the registers of the Patent Office of documents other 
than patent applications shall be determined by the date 
of filing of such documents at the Patent Office for entry 
in the registers. 
17.-(1) The Patent Office shall have the right to 
refuse entry in a register of a document. provided it is 
not a patent application. only where it does not comply 
with the requirements prescribed in or by virtue of this 
Act of the Kingdom for a document of that kind. where 
it does not explicitly indicate the patent to which it 
relates or where any condition for entry in the registers 
stipulated in this Act of the Kingdom has not been 
satisfied. 
(2) The person who requests the making of the entry 
shall be notified in writing of the grounds for the 
refusal. 
(3) An appeal shall lie from this refusal to a court of 
law in accordance with the provisions laid down in 
Section 55. 
(4) Any person who feels aggrieved by an entry in a 
register of a document, provided it is not a patent appli­
cation, shall have a right to request the court. in accor­
dance with the provisions laid down in Section 55, to 
cancel such entry. 
17A.-(l) If the applicant. despite having exercised 
all due care required under the circumstances, was 
unable to observe a time limit vis-a-vis the Industrial 
Property Office, the Patent Office or the Office referred 
to in Section 58. the prior state may be restored at his 
request if the non-observance of the time limit has had 
the direct consequence, under this Act of the Kingdom. 
of the loss of any right or means of redress. 
(2) Paragraph (I) shall not apply to a payment. 
admissible after the due date. that has not been effected 
punctually, to a patent application that has not been 
filed within the time limit provided for in Section 7(1), 
and to the non-observance of the time limit provided 
for hereafter in paragraph (3). 
NL LAWS AND TREATIES 
(3) The request must be filed at the Patent Office in 
writing as soon as possible, but at the latest within one 
year from the expiry of the unobserved time limit. The 
omitted act must be accomplished at the same time as 
the request is submitted. The request shall be accom­
panied by the reasons therefor and shall be signed by the 
person who made the request or a person appointed as 
his representative authorized in writing If the person 
who made the request does not live in the Kingdom, he 
shall be obliged to elect domicile with a representative 
in the Netherlands. When the request is filed, a fee to be 
prescribed by Order in Council of the Realm shall be 
payable. 
(4) A Special Division of the Patent Office, set up for 
this purpose, shall take a decision on the request, the 
person who made the request having been heard or at 
least duly summoned. The decision shall state the 
grounds on which it is based and the Patent Office shall 
give notification of it without delay to the person who 
made the request With regard to such a decision, 
Section 24A shall apply mutatis mutandis. 
(5) The Patent Office shall enter the restoration to 
the prior state in the public registers and shall give 
notice of it in the J oumal referred to in Section 25 where 
notice of the consequence of non-observance of the time 
limit was previously given. It shall, if or as soon as the 
application has been laid open to public inspection, 
annex the documents relating to the restoration to the 
application laid open to public inspection. 
(6) Any person who. during the period be~ween the 
loss of rights or the means of redress and the restoration 
to the prior state, has, within the Kingdom, begun the 
manufacture or the putting in practice. in or for his 
business. of the invention for which a patent has been 
granted as a result of that restoration, or who has begun 
to carry out his intentions to do so, may continue to do 
the acts referred to in Section 30( I), notwithstanding the 
patent. Section 32(2) and (5) shall apply mutatis 
mutandis. 
18.-( I) The Patent Office and its Divisions shall be 
empowered to hear witnesses and experts. Any person 
who has been summoned as a witness and has his resi­
dence in the Netherlands shall be required to obey that 
summons. to declare to the President of the Patent 
Office or of the Division under oath or in an equally 
binding form that he will speak the whole truth and 
nothing but the truth, and to give evidence, without 
prejudice to the right to refuse evidence where any of the 
relations referred to in Section 1946 of the Netherlands 
Civil Code exists between the witness and an interested INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY -J\-fAY 1989 
party who has been summoned or who has appeared, or 
where the witness is in a position referred to in para­
graph (3) of that Section. The experts shall be obliged to 
perform their task impartially and to the best of their 
knowledge. The Patent Office and its Divisions may 
enjoin secrecy upon them. 
(2) The Patent Office and its Divisions shall 
furthermore be empowered to order any interested 
party who has his residence in the Netherlands to appear 
in person 
18A. By Order in Council, provisions shall be laid 
down in respect of the admission of persons who are to 
act as representatives to the Patent Office, as well as 
provisions in respect of the professional conduct of 
representatives and the supervision thereof. By that 
Order in Council, the authorities charged with that 
supervision may be empowered to summon and hear 
witnesses and experts, and witnesses living in the 
Netherlands may be required to appear and to give 
evidence under oath or in an equally binding form, as 
specified by the Order in Council, without prejudice to 
the right to refuse to give evidence on the grounds stated 
in Sections 217 to 219 of the Netherlands Code of 
Criminal Procedure [Het Nederlandse Wetboek van 
Strafvorderingf. Furthermore, provisions shall be laid 
down for such cases in respect of the summoning and 
hearing of the witnesses and experts 
19. All documents addressed to and issued by the 
Patent Office shall be exempt from stamp duty and from 
the formality of registration. 
19A. If the Industrial Property Office is closed on 
the last day of any time limit to be observed under this 
Act of the Kingdom by or vis-a-vis the Patent Office, 
that time limit shall be extended for the purposes of this 
Act of the Kingdom until the end of the first day there­
after on which the Office is again open. 
19B.-(l} The Patent Office shall act as a receiving 
Office within the meaning of Article 2(xv} ofthe Coop­
eration Treaty and shall exercise its functions in that 
capacity in accordance with the provisions of the 
Treaty. 
(2) The amount of the transmittal fee referred to in 
Rule 14 I of the Regulations under the Cooperation 
Treaty and its due date, and the amount of the fee 
referred to in Rule 20.9 of those Regulations shall be 
prescribed by Order in Council of the Realm 
Furthermore, by Order in Council further rules may be IP/N/1/NLD/P/2 
Page 7 
LAWS AND TREATIES 
laid down with regard to the subjects in respect of which 
the receiving Office is empowered to make provisions 
by virtue of the above-mentioned Regulations. 
19C. The Patent Office shall act as a designated 
Office within the meaning of Article 2(xiii) of the Coop­
eration Treaty if the Kingdom has been designated by 
the applicant pursuant to Chapter I of that Treaty and if 
it is evident from the application that he wishes to 
obtain for the Kingdom a patent granted in accordance 
with this Act of the Kingdom 
19D. The Patent Office shall act as an elected Office 
within the meaning of Article 2(xiv) of the Cooperation 
Treaty if the Kingdom has been elected by the applicant 
pursuant to Chapter 1I of that Treaty and if the Patent 
Office also acts as a designated Office as referred to in 
Section 19C. 
Part Il 
Grant of the Patent 
20.-(1) Applications for a patent shall be accom­
panied by a specification of the invention and both the 
application and the specification shall be written in the 
Dutch language. For a period of time which it shall 
determine, the Patent Office may grant exemption from 
the provision that the application and the specification 
shall be written in the Dutch language if special circum­
stances so warrant 
(2) Where these provisions are not complied with, 
the documents which have been filed shall not be 
considered as an application for a patent. 
21. Upon filing the application proof shall be 
furnished that a fee, the amount of which shall be 
prescribed by Order in Council of the Realm, has been 
paid to the Industrial Property Office 
21A. Not until proof has been furnished that a fee 
payable pursuant to this Act of Kingdom or the Patent 
Rules has been paid shall the application and the other 
documents for which the fee is due be deemed to have 
been filed. 
22.-(1) The date of filing at the Patent Office as well 
as a serial number shall be marked on the application. 
Without delay the Patent Office shall issue a receipt to 
the applicant which shall make mention of that date and 
that number. 
NL IP/N/lINLD/P/2 
Page 8 
INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY -MA Y 1989 
(2) Applications shall be entered in a register in the 
order in which they are numbered and shall state the 
number. 
22A.-(1) The patent application form shall: 
(a) contain the name and place of residence of the 
applicant; 
(b) contain the signature of the applicant or of a 
person appointed as his representative by written 
authorization; 
(c) contain a concise designation of the subject 
matter of the invention; 
(d) be accompanied by a specification of the 
invention, which gives a definition at the end, in one or 
more claims of the subject matter for which the 
exclusive right is sought. 
(2) The application form and the accompanying 
specification of the invention and drawings shall 
comply with the further formal requirements to be 
prescribed by Order in Council. 
(3) Furthermore, a fee to be prescribed by Order 
in Council of the Realm shall be payable in respect 
of the application for each page of the specifica­
tion and drawings pertaining to the application and 
arranged in accordance with the formal requirements 
referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2) A refund of 
this fee shall be given, unless Section 22C(2) or (3) 
applies, where the application has been withdrawn, 
not later than one month before expiry of the 
time limit referred to in paragraph (l) of that 
Section. 
(4) If the applicant does not have his place of res i­
dence in the Kingdom, he shall be required to elect 
domicile in the Netherlands with a professional repre­
sentative, which election of domicile, subject to change 
of the domicile so elected notified to the Patent Office in 
writing, shall be deemed to remain in force even after 
the grant of the patent Where the change of elected 
domicile takes place after the grant of the patent, the 
person with whom domicile is elected need not be a 
professional representative 
(5) Where the provisions under or by virtue of this 
Section have not been complied with at the time offiling 
the application, the Patent Office shall, within one 
month, notify the applicant accordingly, stating the 
provisions that have not been complied with The appli­
cation shall lapse if at the end ofa period of five months 
from the date of filing, and without any further amend­
ments, the stated provisions still have not been 
complied with. 
NL LA WS AND TREATIES 
22B.-( I) The specification of the invention shall be 
clear and complete; the definition at the end shall be 
precise The specification shall, if necessary, be accom· 
panied by corresponding drawings and, if required, it 
shall be elucidated by models, samples and tests, and 
furthermore it shall be of such a nature as to enable a 
person skilled in the art to understand the invention and 
put it in practice on the basis of that specification. 
(2) Further formal requirements and further provi­
sions for the making of the specification and drawings 
may be prescribed by Order in Council. 
22C.-(l) As soon as possible after expiration of 18 
months from the filing date or, if the application is one 
for which one or more priority rights have been claimed, 
after the first date of priority, the Patent Office shall 
effect notification of the application in the Journal 
referred to in Section 2S and shall lay the application 
with the specification and drawings pertaining thereto 
and the other documents to be designated by Order in 
Council open to public inspection at the Industrial 
Propeny Office. 
(2) Where the applicant so requests in writing, the 
acts referred to in paragraph (1) shall be carried out as 
soon as possible after the filing of that request. 
(3) In respect of a new application as referred to in 
Section 8A, the acts referred to in paragraph (I) shall be 
carried out as soon as possible after the filing of that 
application, but not earlier than in respect of the original 
application. 
(4) This Section shall not apply if the Patent Office is 
of the opinion that the publication of the product or the 
process in respect of which a patent has been applied for 
would be contrary to public order or morality. 
22D.-(I) In respect of an application, as long as no 
patent has been granted thereon, a renewal fee to be 
prescribed by Order in Council of the Realm shall be 
payable to the Industrial Property Office two years after 
the filing thereof on the last day of the month in which 
the application was filed or is deemed to have been filed 
by vinue of Section 8A, and each subsequent year on 
that date For an application filed under Section 8A, the 
first payment shall only be due after the date of actual 
filing. Where payment is effected after the due date, 
additional fees shall be payable, the amount of which 
shall be prescribed by Order in Council of the Realm. 
(2) The application or a patent subsequently granted 
thereon shaIl lapse if the fees as provided for in para­
graph (I) have not been paid within six months INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY-MAY 1989 
following the due date. Payment within a period not 
exceeding six months prior to the due date shall be 
admissible. The Patent Office shall enter the lapse in the 
public registers, shall give notification of it in the 
Journal referred to in Section 25, and shall inform any 
third party who has made a request under Section 221(2) 
or (10) or 22J(I), which is still under consideration, of 
that lapse. 
(3) Ifpayment has not been effected on the due date, 
the Patent Office shall remind the applicant of that 
payment in writing within 14 days. If payment has not 
been made within three months from the due date, the 
Patent Office shall send a copy of this reminder to all 
persons who have acquired rights or who have insti­
tuted legal action on the basis of the application, as 
shown by documents entered in the public registers. 
Omission of the reminder cannot be invoked by law. 
22E.-( I) Withdrawal of an application which has 
been laid open to public inspection or which has been 
published shall have no effect vis-a~vis third parties: 
(a) where four months have not elapsed since the 
laying open to public inspection or the publication of 
the application; 
(b) where no final decision has been taken in respect 
of a request filed under Section 22G or a notice of 
opposition filed under Section 25 and based on Sections 
9,100rll; 
(e) where no final decision has been taken in respect 
of legal proceedings instituted with regard to the appli­
cation. as shown by documents entered in the public 
registers of the Patent Office. 
(2) Where a person other than the applicant is 
entitled to the patent or has ajoint right to the patent by 
virtue of a final decision as referred to in paragraph 
(l)(b) or (e), withdrawal shall be deemed not to have 
taken place. 
(3) The Patent Office shall make an entry of a with­
drawal in the public registers and shall give notification 
of it in the J oumal referred to in Section 25 as soon as 
the withdrawal takes effect vis-a-vis third parties. 
22F. Any person may notify the Patent Office in 
writing of data concerning an application which has 
been laid open to public inspection. Insofar as the 
Patent Office considers that there are no objections to 
this data and to such other data in respect of the appli­
cation being laid open to public inspection which it may 
otherwise acquire, the Patent Office shall, without 
delay, annex the data to the application which has been 
laid open to public inspection and notify the applicant JP/NI1 INLDIP/2 
Page 9 
LAWS AND TREATIES 
thereof insofar as the said data have not been supplied 
by the applicant. 
22G.-(I) A party directly interested, within the 
meaning of Sections 9, 10 or 11 may request the Patent 
Office in writing, pursuant to the above-mentioned 
Sections, to determine that he is wholly or partly 
entitled to a patent or that he has a joint right thereto, 
after the application has been laid open to public 
inspection, but at the latest within four months after 
notification in the Journal referred to in Section 25 ofa 
request as referred to in Section 22J. On filing a request 
to this effect a fee to be prescribed by Order in Council of 
the Realm shall be payable. 
(2) A request as referred to in paragraph (1) shall be 
submitted in a statement accompanied by the reasons 
therefor and shall bear the signature of the person 
making the request or of a person representing him by 
written authorization. If the person making the request 
does not have his residence in the Kingdom, he shall be 
required to elect domicile with a representative in the 
Netherlands. 
(3) After the filing of a request as referred to in para­
graph (1), the applicant may not divide the application 
in question pursuant to Section 8A(l), the time limit 
referred to in Section 8A(2), first sentence, shall be 
suspended insofar as necessary and the procedure 
provided for in Sections 23 to 24A shall be deferred 
until the decision in respect of the request has become 
final. After the filing of the request the Patent Office 
shall set up, without delay, a Special Division consisting 
of three members, who shall examine the request. This 
Division shall give the applicant an opportunity to take 
cognizance of the request and shall take a decision after 
hearing the applicant and the person who has made the 
request, or after having duly summoned them. 
(4) A decision to be taken by virtue of paragraph (3) 
shall be given in a statement accompanied by the 
reasons therefor and the Patent Office shall inform the 
applicant and the person who made the request of it in 
writing In respect of such a decision, Section 27 shall 
apply mutatis mutandis. 
(5) Where it is decided that the person who has made 
the request is entitled to the patent or has a joint right 
thereto, such person shall to that extent replace the 
applicant. 
(6) The Patent Office shall annex a request as 
referred to in paragraph (1) to the application that has 
been laid open to public inspection. As soon as the 
decision in respect of such a request has become final, 
NL IP/N/lINLD/P/2 
Page 10 
INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY -MA Y 1989 
the Patent Office shall also annex the documents 
relating to the consideration of the request to the appli­
cation. 
22H.-(I) Where an interested party so requests in 
writing, the Patent Office may order without delay a 
preliminary hearing of witnesses with regard to facts 
which may be of importance to a decision which the 
Patent Office is to take in respect of an application that 
has been laid open to public inspection. On filing a 
request to that effect it fee to be prescribed by Order in 
Council of the Realm shall be payable. 
(2) Section 220(2) shall apply mutatis mutandis. 
(3) The hearing shall take place before a Special 
Division of the Patent Office. The person who made the 
request and, where the request was made by a person 
other than the applicant. the applicant shall be afforded 
an opportunity to be present at that hearing 
221.-( 1) Where the applicant so requests in writing, 
the Patent Office shall make a search of the state of the 
art in respect of that which is to be considered the 
subject matter of the application by virtue of the provi­
sions by or under Section SA. The exclusive rights 
applied for shall be taken into consideration in the order 
in which they occur in the application, and also the 
amendments concerning those rights introduced by the 
applicant insofar as they do not essentially change the 
content of the application. The Patent Office may omit 
such a search if it is not feasible as a result of lack of 
clarity of the application. 
(2) After the application has been laid open to public 
inspection. any other person may file a written request 
for a similar search. The provisions of paragraph (1) 
shall apply to this search. However, in carrying out the 
search, the order in which the exclusive rights occur in 
the application may be deviated from, if so required 
Upon the submission of a writ as provided for in Section 
43A(3), the person who filed the request may demand 
that the search be directed in the first instance to that 
part of the patent that has been detailed in the writ. 
(3) If the applicant so requests in writing, the Patent 
Office shall cause the application to be subjected to an 
international-type search as provided for in Article 
15(5)(a), of the Patent Cooperation Treaty. Such a 
search shall be deemed to be a search of the state of the 
art as referred to in paragraph (1) 
NL (4) Upon the filing of a request as provided for in 
paragraphs (1), (2) or (3), a fee to be prescribed by Order 
in Council of the Realm shall be payable. By Order in LAWS AND TREATIES 
Council of the Realm it can be prescribed in which cases 
no fee shall be due or when fees already paid shall be 
refunded. 
(5) A request as provided for in paragraphs (1), (2), 
or (3) shall bear the signature of the person who made 
the request or a person appointed as his representative 
by written authorization If the person who has filed the 
request does not have his residence in the Kingdom, he 
shall be obliged to elect domicile with a representative 
in the Netherlands. 
(6) The Patent Office shall notify the applicant of a 
request as provided for in paragraph (2). If or as soon as 
the application has been laid open to public inspection, 
the Patent Office shall make notification ofa request as 
provided for in paragraphs (1), (2) or (3) in the Journal 
referred to in Section 25 and shall annex it to the appli­
cation laid open to public inspection 
(7) The applicant shall be required, at the request of 
the Patent Office, to state within a time limit to be fixed 
by the Patent Office, the dates on which and the coun­
tries in which he filed a patent application for the same 
invention, to authorize the Patent Office in writing to 
make inquiries about those applications in those coun­
tries and to disclose the objections which, to the best of 
his knowledge, have been raised in respect of his appli­
cation in those countries 
(8) In respect of the state-of-the art search, the 
Patent Office may request advice from the European 
Patent Office referred to in the European Patent 
Convention. 
(9) The report of the state-of-the-art search or, if the 
search has not been made. the reason why it has not 
been made, shall be communicated in writing by the 
Patent Office to the applicant and, where paragraph (2) 
applies, to the person who filed the request referred to in 
that paragraph In the communication the Patent Office 
may also indicate objections deriving from the provi­
sions of this Act of the Kingdom, which could be raised 
against the granting of a patent on the application If or 
as soon as the application has been laid open to public 
inspection, the Patent Office shall give notification of 
that communication in the Journal referred to in 
Section 2S and shall annex a copy ofit to the application 
laid open to public inspection If the application is with­
drawn after a request as provided for in paragraph (2) 
has been filed and before the communication in respect 
of the search, the Patent Office shall inform the person 
who filed the request thereof in writing. 
(lO) Where the applicant or, after the application 
has been laid open to public inspection, another person INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY -MAY 1989 
so requests in writing, the Patent Office shall continue 
the search in respect of any part of the application 
concerning which, under or by virtue of the provisions 
of Section 25A, the search has not been performed or 
has not been completed. Upon the filing of such a 
request, a fee to be prescribed by Order in Council of the 
Realm shall be payable. Paragraph (4), second sentence, 
and paragraphs (5), (6), (7), (8) and (9) shall apply 
mutatis mutandis. 
22J. -( I) After the communication in respect of the 
search as provided for in Section 221(9), the applicant 
or, after a .copy of the communication has been annexed 
to the application which has been laid open to public 
inspection, any other person may request in writing that 
the Patent Office take a decision as to the grant of a 
patent on the application. Upon filing such a request, a 
fee to be prescribed by Order in Council of the Realm 
shall be payable. 
(2) Section 221(5) and (6) shall apply mutatis 
mutandis. Where the request has been made by a person 
other than the applicant and the application was with­
drawn after the filing of that request and prior to the 
decision of the Examining Division as referred to in 
Section 24, the Patent Office shall so inform the person 
who filed the request in writing. 
22K.-(I) An application shall lapse where a request 
as provided for in Section 221 has not been ftled within a 
period of seven years from the filing date of the appli­
cation. 
(2) Where, in respect of an application, a request has 
been made for the performance or continuation of a 
search as provided for in Section 22I(l), (2) or (l0) 
before the expiry of the time limit referred to in para­
graph (I), but the communication concerning the search 
as provided for in paragraph (9) of that Section has not 
been made the subject of a notification in the Journal 
referred to in Section 25 at least four months prior to 
expiry of the time limit, the time limit as provided for in 
paragraph (1) shall be extended up to four months 
following the date on which the Journal referred to in 
Section 25 mentions that communication. For applica­
tions referred to in Part III of this Chapter, an extension 
of four months' duration from the date of the commu­
nication concerning the search or the supplementary 
search, respectively, shall apply in the above-mentioned 
cases. 
(3) A new application as referred to in Section 8A 
filed at least one month prior to the expiry of the time 
limit which, under paragraphs (I) or (2) is applicable in IP/NI1 INLD/PI2 
Page 11 
LAWS AND TREATIES 
respect of the original application, shall lapse if a request 
as referred to in Section 221 has not been fIled before the 
end of that time limit, provided that paragraph (2) shall 
apply mutatis mutandis. 
(4) A new application as referred to in Section SA 
filed less than one month before or after the expiry ofthe 
time limit applicable under paragraphs (1) or (2) to the 
original application shall lapse where, within one month 
following the date of filing, a request for the perfor­
mance of a search as provided for in Section 22I(1) or (2) 
has not been filed and, further, where within four 
months following the date of the notification in the 
Journal, referred to in Section 25, of the communication 
in respect of the search, referred to in Section 221(9), a 
request as provided for in Section 221 has not been 
filed. 
(5) The Patent Office shall make an entry in respect 
of the lapse in the public registers and shall give notifi­
cation of it in the Journal referred to in Section 25. 
23.-(1) After the filing ofa request as provided for 
in Section 22J, the Patent Office shall make an exami­
nation of the application as referred to in paragraph (3), 
below Section 221(7) and (8) shall apply mutatis 
mutandis. 
(2) If the Patent Office deems the application not to 
be in conformity with the statutory requirements, the 
Patent Office shall so notify the applicant by a statement 
of the objections thereto and shall give him an oppor­
tunity to remedy the objections either by filing, within a 
reasonable time limit, a written defense in respect ofthe 
objections that have been raised or by supplementing or 
rectifying the original application 
(3) After completion of the examination referred to 
in paragraph (1), the Patent Office shall entrust the 
application with the documents relating thereto to an 
Examining Division designated by the Patent Office 
which shall deal with the application. 
(4) After the applicant has been heard, or at least 
duly summoned; by the Examining Division and, where 
necessary, been given a reasonable opportunity to 
remedy the objections, the Examining Division shall 
pronounce its decision as soon as possible. 
(5) Before deciding whether or not to publish the 
application, the Examining Division may request the 
Patent Office to make a further search as provided for in 
Section 221(1). 
(6) If the application is in conflict with the provi­
sions made by or under Section 5A, this shall be so 
NL IP/N/lINLD/P/2 
Page 12 
INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY -MAY 1989 
determined in a decision of the Division. This shall be 
done as soon as possible at the applicant's request. To 
this end the application, while still under examination, 
may, at the applicant's request, be placed in the hands of 
the Examining Division. Paragraph (4), above, and 
Section 24(2) shall apply mutatis mutandis. Pending the 
decision, the procedure in respect of the application 
shall, at the request of the applicant, or if the Examining 
Division considers it appropriate to do so, be suspended 
for the remainder. 
24.-(1) If the Examining Division deems that the 
application does not qualify for the complete or partial 
grant ofa patent, it shall decide that the application shall 
not be published. In the contrary case, it shall decide 
that the application shall be published 
(2) The applicant shall be notified of the decision of 
the Examining Division without delay and, where the 
application is not wholly published, he shall be 
informed of the grounds for the decision. Ifany person 
other than the applicant has filed a request as provided 
for in Section 22J(1), he shall also be informed of the 
decision of the Examining Division without delay. 
24A.-(l) Within a period of three months 
following the fmal decision, the applicant may lodge an 
appeal with the Patent Office by filing a written notice of 
appeal stating the grounds therefor. 
(2) Where a decision as provided for in Section 23(6) 
has been given before a final decision has been taken, 
the applicant may only lodge a separate appeal in 
respect of the former decision and this within three 
months 
(3) An Appeal Division of the Patent Office shall 
take a decision in respect of the appeal after the 
applicant has been heard, or at least duly summoned 
Before taking the decision, the Appeal Division may 
request the Patent Office to make a further search as 
provided for in Section 22I( 1) 
(4) Members who were involved in the search in 
respect of the application as provided for in Section 
221(1), or in the examination of the application as 
provided for in Section 23( I) or who have taken part in 
the proceedings of the Examining Division, shall not be 
allowed to take part in the proceedings before the 
Appeal Division as provided for in the preceding para­
graph. 
NL (5) The applicant shall be notified of a decision of 
the Appeal Division without delay and with a statement 
of the grounds for the decision. LA WS AND TREATIES 
24B. The applicant and any person who is entitled 
under Section 12A to be mentioned in the patent as the 
inventor may file at the Patent Office, no later than the 
date on which the conditions stipulated in Section 25(1) 
have been satisfied, ajoint written request for the latter 
person to be mentioned in the patent as the inventor. 
The request shall be dealt with by the Division that 
takes the decision as to publication. If this Division 
grants the request, it shall prescribe that the mention be 
inserted in the patent application to be published. 
25.-(1) The Patent Office shall publish an appli­
cation by giving notification of the decisions taken to 
that effect in a Journal to be issued by the Industrial 
Property Office where no further appeal lies or where 
the applicant has waived his right to appeal and as soon 
as the applicant has furnished proof that a fee, the 
amount of which shall be prescribed by Order in 
Council of the Realm, has been paid to the Industrial 
Property Office. Within 14 days following the date on 
which the Journal is issued, the Patent Office shall enter 
the publication under a consecutive number in the 
relevant public register. The application shall be 
deemed to have been withdrawn ifproofofpayment has 
not been submitted, after a decision of the Examining 
Division to publish the application, on the date on 
which the decision becomes final, or after a similar 
decision of an Appeal Division, within one month 
following the date on which the decision is taken. 
(2) On the issue date of the Journal in which notifi­
cation is given of the decision to publish the application, 
the Patent Office shall lay the documents referred to in 
Sections 22C, 221 and 22J open to public inspection, if 
the laying open to public inspection as provided for in 
Section 22C has not yet been effected, and the Patent 
Office shall annex to these documents the decision to 
publish the application, the specification and drawings 
relating to the application in the form in which it was 
decided to publish them and the documents which have 
been exchanged in respect of the applications after the 
date of filing of the request referred to in Section 22J. 
The Patent Office shall furthermore make the above­
mentioned specification and drawings available to the 
public as soon as possible 
(3) Within four months following the issue date of 
the Journal referred to in paragraph (I), any person may 
give notice of opposition to the grant of the patent in 
respect of which an application has been filed by filing 
with the Patent Office a written notice of opposition 
stating the grounds therefor, which notice of opposition 
shall clearly state the name and residence of the INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY -MA Y /989 
opponent and which shall bear his signature or that of a 
person representing him authorized in writing. The 
representative shall represent the opponent throughout 
the opposition proceedings, subject to replacement or 
revocation If the opponent does not have his residence 
in the Kingdom. he shall be obliged to elect domicile in 
the Netherlands with a representative The grounds for 
the opposition shall be based on the provisions of this 
Act of the Kingdom and may, insofar as they affect a 
directly interested party as provided for in Sections 9, 10 
and 11, only be filed by him. 
(4) Any person who is entitled under Section 12A to 
be mentioned in the patent as the inventor may request 
the Patent Office in writing either that he be mentioned 
as the inventor in the patent to be granted or that the 
mention of some person as the inventor in the published 
application be rectified or omitted in the patent to be 
granted The preceding paragraph shall apply mutatis 
mutandis 
26.-( 1) Where notices of opposition or written 
requests under Section 25 or 32 have been filed, they 
shall be allocated to the Examining Division that has 
taken a decision on the publication of the application 
The membership of the Examining Division shall be 
increased to three members if it consisted of one 
member The Examining Division shall give the 
applicant an opportunity to take cognizance of the 
above-mentioned documents and shall decide on the 
full or partial grant of the patent and on the requests 
after expiry of the time limit as provided for in Section 
25(3), and after having heard, or at least having duly 
summoned. the applicant. opponents and persons 
making the request Where. as provided for in Section 
25(4), a request is made for the rectification or omission 
of the mention of a person as the inventor in the 
published application, the Examining Division shall 
also afford the person mentioned as the inventor an 
opportunity to take cognizance of the request and shall 
not take a decision before having heard or at least duly 
summoned him to appear. 
(2) Where opposition has been filed to the grant ofa 
patent on the grounds that the opponent is entitled to a 
patent under Section 9 or 10, or that he is entitled to 
joint proprietorship under Section 11, either for the 
whole content of the original application or for such part 
of it as would be susceptible to the grant of a separate 
patent. the Examining Division may make an exami­
nation of the opposition: if the Examining Division 
finds that the opposition is justified. the Division shall 
grant to the opponent in whole or in part the patent IP/N/IINLD/P/2 
Page 13 
LAWS AND TREATIES 
applied for or the Examining Division shall grant him 
the joint proprietorship to which he is entitled, insofar 
as the opponent has informed the Patent Office of 
his desires in this regard before the decision. The deci­
sion shall not preclude the right of action pursuant to 
Section 53. 
(3) The applicant, the opponents and the persons 
making the request shall be informed without delay of 
the decision taken by the Examining Division in a 
written statement accompanied by the reasons 
therefor 
(4) Where no notices of opposition or requests as 
provided for in Section 25 or 32 have been filed within 
the time limit specified in Section 25(3), the patent shall 
be deemed to have been granted in the form in which the 
application was published 
27.-(1) Within three months following the date of 
the final decision the applicant. the opponents, the 
persons making the request and the person who has 
been mentioned as the inventor in the published appli­
cation may lodge an appeal by filing with the Patent 
Office a notice of appeal stating the grounds therefor, 
which notice of appeal shall be signed by them or by a 
person appointed to represent them authorized in 
writing The Patent Office shall give the other parties 
concerned an opportunity to take cognizance of the 
notice of appeal 
(2) After hearing, or at least having duly summoned 
the applicant, the opponents, the persons making the 
request and the person mentioned as the inventor in the 
published application, an Appeal Division of the Patent 
Office shall take a decision on the appeal. The provi­
sions of Section 24A shall apply to the constitution of 
the Appeal Division and to the decision thereof. 
28.-(1) A patent granted in respect ofa published 
application shall bear the date of and take effect, 
without prejudice to the provisions of Section 44, on the 
day following the date of expiry of the time limit 
referred to in Section 25(3) where no notices of oppo­
sition or requests have been filed or, where such notices 
of opposition or requests have been filed, on the day 
following the date of expiry of the time limit referred to 
in Section 27 where no appeal has been lodged, if all 
parties entitled to do so have waived the right to lodge 
an appeal or, where an appeal was lodged, on the day 
following the date on which the patent was granted by an 
Appeal Division. 
NL IP/NIlINLD/PI2 
Page 14 
INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY -MA Y 1989 
(2) Within 14 days following that date, the Patent 
Office shall enter the grant of the patent in the register 
referred to in Section 25(1), and shall, as soon as 
possible, give notification thereof in the Journal 
referred to in the said Section. On the issue date of the 
Journal, the Patent Office shall make the specification 
and drawings relating to the application available to the 
public, in the form in which the patent was granted 
thereon, by way of patent specification, and the Patent 
Office shall annex these documents to the application 
laid open to public inspection, together with the 
decision to grant the patent and all the documents 
exchanged with regard to the application after publi­
cation. 
(3) Within 14 days from the issue date of the Journal 
referred to in the preceding paragraph, the Patent Office 
shall provide the person to whom a patent has been 
granted with a certificate of his right 
(4) The Patent Office shall likewise within 14 days 
enter the refusal of an application in the register referred 
to in Section 25(1) where an appeal no longer lies or 
where refusal has been decided on by the Patent Office 
after the lodging of an appeal, and the Patent Office shall 
give notification thereof as soon as possible in the 
Journal referred to in the said Section 
29. Further rules for implementing the provisions of 
this Part and the following Parts shall be prescribed by 
Order in Council, which shall regulate inter alia: 
(a) the requirements with which applications and 
their accompanying documents shall comply; 
(b) (repealed/ 
(c) the entry of applications in the registers of the 
Patent Office under Section 22; 
(d) the name, the form and the manner of publishing 
the Journal referred to in Section 25; 
(e) the notification of the applications and the laying 
open to public inspection of the application with the 
documents pertaining thereto pursuant to Section 22C 
as well as the laying open to public inspection of docu­
ments pursuant to Sections 22F, 220, 221, 22J, 25 
or 28; 
(f) the form of the requests, notices of opposition 
and notices of appeal referred to in this Act of the 
Kingdom, the way in which the interested parties shall 
be notified thereof and the form of the certificate 
referred to in Section 28(3); 
NL (g) (repealed! 
(h) the cases in which an entry shall be made in the 
public registers of the Patent Office of the filing or the LAWS AND TREATIES 
laying open to public inspection of documents other 
than applications; 
(i) copies of which documents laid open for public 
inspection together with the application shall be made 
available to the public. 
Part III 
The Maintenance of Secrecy in Respect 
of the Content of Patent Applications 
29A.-(l) If the Patent Office is of the opinion that 
the maintenance of secrecy in respect of the content of a 
patent application may be in the interest of the defense 
of the Kingdom or its allies, the Patent Office shall 
notify the applicant thereof as soon as possible, but at 
the latest five months from the filing date of the appli­
cation. Our Minister of Defense may give directions to 
the Patent Office with regard to the consideration of 
whether there is such an interest. 
(2) At the same time as the notification is given, the 
Patent Office shall send a copy thereof and of the spec­
ification and drawings pertaining to the application to 
Our above-mentioned Minister. 
(3) Where paragraph (I) applies, the laying open to 
public inspection and publication of the application 
shall be suspended 
29B.-( 1) Within eight months from the filing of a 
patent application as referred to in Section 29A, Our 
Minister of Defense shall notify the Patent Office 
whether the content of the application is to be kept 
secret in the interest of the defense of the Kingdom or its 
allies. 
(2) Notification in the affirmative under paragraph 
(I) shall have a suspensive eITect vis-a-vis the laying 
open to public inspection and the publication of the 
application for a period of three years from the date of 
that notification Notification in the negative shall 
entail termination of such suspensive eITect. Absence of 
any notification shall be deemed to be a notification in 
the negative 
(3) Our above-mentioned Minister may succes­
sively extend the term of suspension within six months 
preceding its expiry, for a period of three years by noti­
fying the Patent Office that the content of the appli­
cation is to be kept secret in the interest of the defense of 
the Kingdom or its allies 
(4) Our above-mentioned Minister may at any time 
notify the Patent Office that the content of the appli-IjVDUSTRIAL PROPERTY -lv/AY 1989 
cation need no longer be kept secret. Such a notification 
shall entail termination of the suspension. 
(5) The Patent Office shall inform the applicant 
without delay of a notification under paragraphs (l), (3) 
or (4) The Patent Office shall also inform the applicant 
of the absence of a notification as referred to in para­
graph (l) or (3) 
(6) For as long as the suspension has not been termi­
nated the Patent Office shall send Our above­
mentioned Minister. at his request. copies of all the 
relevant documents exchanged between the Patent 
Office an~ the applicant 
(7) Nevertheless. the laying open to public 
inspection and the publication of the application shall 
not be effected, unless the applicant requests otherwise, 
until a period of three months has elapsed from the date 
of termination of the suspension 
29C.-( I) Any person whose patent application has 
become subject to Section 29A or 290 shall, at his 
request, be awarded compensation by the State for any 
damage he has sustained by reason of the enforcement 
of Sections 29A and 29B or 290 
(2) The amount of the compensation shall be deter­
mined upon termination of the suspension If, however, 
the term of suspension has been extended by virtue of 
Section 29B(3), the amount of the compensation shall 
be determined, at the request of the applicant, in install­
ments, the first relating to the period prior to the 
commencement of the first extension, the next to the 
period between two successive extensions and the last to 
the period from the commencement of the last 
extension to the termination of the suspension, the 
respective amounts shall be determined upon expi­
ration of the relative periods. 
(3) The amount of the compensation shall be deter­
mined, if possible, by the mutual consent of Our 
Minister of Defense and the applicant If no agreement 
has been achieved within six months from the date of 
the expiry of the period to which the compensation 
relates, Section 34(9) shall apply mutatis mutandis, 
except for the provision concerning the deposit of 
security. 
29D.-(l) If an applicant requests that the content 
of a patent application be kept secret in the interest of 
the defense of some other country, or if the government 
of that country makes such a request, the Patent Office 
shall, provided that the applicant has stated in writing 
that he renounces any compensation for damages he IP/NIl/NLD/P/2 
Page 15 
LAWS AND TREATIES 
might sustain by reason of the enforcement of this 
Section, send without delay a copy of that request and of 
the specification and drawings pertaining to the appli­
cation as well as of the above· mentioned statement of 
renunciation to Our Minister of De fen se In such a case, 
the laying open to public inspection and the publication 
of the application shall be suspended. In the absence ofa 
statement of renunciation, the Patent Office shall notify 
Our above-mentioned Minister thereof without delay. 
(2) Within three months following the date of filing 
of the request, Our above-mentioned Minister may, 
provided that he has ascertained that secrecy has been 
imposed on the applicant by the country concerned and 
that the applicant was given permission by that country 
to file an application the subject matter of which has 
been made secret, notify the Patent Office that the 
content of the application is to be kept secret in the 
interest of the defense of that country 
(3) A notification by virtue of paragraph (2) shall 
have a sus pensive effect vis-a-vis the laying open to 
public inspection and the publication of the application 
until Our above-mentioned Minister notifies the Patent 
Office that the content of the application need no longer 
be kept secret. Absence of the aforesaid notification 
shall entail termination of the suspension. 
(4) Section 29B(6) and (7) shall apply mutatis 
mutandis with regard to an application as referred to in 
paragraph (1) 
29E.-(l) Where Our Minister of Defense is of the 
opinion that it is in the interest of the defense of the 
Kingdom for the State to use, put into practice or cause 
to be used or put into practice the subject matter of a 
patent application in relation to which Section 29A, 29B 
or 29D has been applied, he may take measures to that 
effect after notifying the applicant thereof The notifi­
cation shall contain a precise account of the acts the 
State must be able to perform or cause to be 
performed 
(2) The State shall compensate the applicant for the 
use or the putting into practice of the subject matter of 
the application pursuant to paragraph (I) 
(3) The amount of this compensation shall be deter­
mined, if possible, by the mutual consent of Our above­
mentioned Minister and the applicant Ifno agreement 
has been achieved within six months following the date 
of the notification referred to in paragraph (1), Section 
34(9) shall apply mutatis mutandis, except for the 
provision concerning the deposit of security. 
NL IP/N/lINLD/P/2 
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INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY -MAY 1989 
29F. If the State itself is the proprietor of a patent 
application and if Our Minister of Defense notifies the 
Patent Office that its content is to be kept secret in the 
interest of the defense of the Kingdom or its allies, the 
laying open to public inspection and the publication of 
the application shall be suspended until Our above­
mentioned Minister notifies the Patent Office that the 
content of the application need no longer be kept 
secret. 
29G.-(l) A European patent application whose 
applicant knows or should reasonably suppose that the 
content thereofis subject to secrecy in the interest of the 
defense of the Kingdom or ofits allies shall be filed at 
the Patent Office. 
(2) The Patent Office shall send without delay a copy 
of the specification and drawings pertaining to the 
application to Our Minister of Defense. 
(3) Within a period not exceeding three weeks before 
expiration of the time limit referred to in Article 77(3) of 
the European Patent Convention, Our Minister of 
Defense shall notify the Patent Office whether the 
content of the application shall be subject to secrecy in 
the interest of the defense of the Kingdom or its 
allies. 
(4) If notification under paragraph (3) has been 
effected in the negative or if no notification has been 
effected at all, the Patent Office shall forward the 
European patent application, with due observance of 
the time limit referred to in Article 77(3) of the 
European Patent Convention, to the European Patent 
Office referred to in that Convention. 
(5) The Patent Office shall inform the applicant of 
any notification by virtue of paragraph (3) or of the 
absence thereof without delay. 
Part IV 
Conversion of European Patent Applications 
29H.-(I) A European patent application which 
complies with the provisions of Article 80 of the 
European Patent Convention and is deemed to have 
been withdrawn under Article 77(5) or 162(4) of the said 
Convention and which has been filed at the Patent 
Office as an annex to a regular request for conversion to 
a patent application in the Kingdom, hereafter to be 
referred to as a convened application, shall be 
considered a patent application, as referred to in Section 
I A, directed to the said Patent Office and filed at the 
said Patent Office. A request for conversion shall be 
NL LAWS AND TREATIES 
regular if it has been submitted in due time with due 
observance of the provision of Part VIII, Chapter I, of 
the European Patent Convention and has been trans­
mitted to the Patent Office 
(2) The converted application shall be deemed to 
have been filed at the Patent Office on the filing date 
attributed to it under Article 80 of the European Patent 
Convention in conformity with Articles 6 I and 76 of the 
said Convention. 
291.-(1) Sections 20, 21A, 22(1), first sentence, and 
22A(5) shall not apply to the converted application. 
(2) The date of filing at the Patent Office, together 
with a serial number, shall be marked on the converted 
application. 
(3) Proof of payment as specified in Section 21 shall 
be furnished for the converted application within a 
period ofthree months from the date of filing referred to 
in paragraph (2) If the European patent application has 
not been filed in the Dutch language, a translation into 
the Dutch language of the original documents of that 
application shall be submitted within the same period. 
The translation shall form part of the converted appli­
cation; it shall be certified at the request of the Patent 
Office within a time limit to be prescribed by the Patent 
Office. The application shall lapse if the provisions of 
this paragraph have not been complied with in due 
time. 
(4) The formal requirements prescribed by or under 
Section 22A shall not apply to the converted application 
if and to the extent that they differ from or are supple­
mentary to what has been prescribed by or under the 
European Patent Convention; in such case that which 
was prescribed by or under the said Convention shall 
apply to the converted application 
(5) As soon as the applicant has complied with the 
provisions of paragraph (3), the Patent Office shall, in 
conformity with the provisions of paragraph (4), 
undertake an examination to determine whether the 
application satisfies the provisions prescribed by or 
under Section 22A and, this not being so, the Patent 
Office shall notify the applicant thereof as soon as 
possible stating the requirements that have not been 
satisfied. The application shall lapse if, within four 
months following the date of the said notification, the 
stated requirements have not been satisfied without any 
further amendments 
(6) The notification and laying open to public 
inspection referred to in Section 22C shall be effected as 
soon as possible, but not before it has been ascertained INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY-MAY 1989 
that the provisions prescribed by or under Section 22A 
have been complied with or that a deficiency in this 
respect has been remedied in due time. 
(7) The fees referred to in Section 22D(1) which are 
due before expiry of four months from the filing date of 
the converted application shall not be payable. 
Part V 
International Applications 
29J.-(I) An international application having an 
international filing date as referred to in Article 11 of the 
Cooperation Treaty and which has been submitted to 
the Patent Office in the manner and within the time 
limit designated in Article 22 or, where applicable, 
Article 39 of the Cooperation Treaty shall be deemed to 
be a patent application as specified in Section I A 
addressed to that Patent Office and filed at that Patent 
Office. 
(2) An application as referred to in paragraph (I) 
shall be deemed to be filed at the Patent Office on the 
day indicated by the international filing date as 
specified in Article 11 of the Cooperation Treaty. 
29K.-(I) Sections 20, 21A, 22(1), first sentence, 
and 22A(5) shall not apply to the international appli­
cation. 
(2) The date of filing at the Patent Office of the 
documents referred to in Sections 20 and 22 or Article 
39 of the Cooperation Treaty, together with a serial 
number, shall be marked on the international appli­
cation. 
(3) Proof of payment as specified in Section 21 shall 
be submitted for the international application within 
the time limit referred to in Section 22(1) or (2), or, 
where applicable, Article 39(1) of the Cooperation 
Treaty Within the same time limit a translation into the 
Dutch language of that application shall be submitted. 
The translation shall form part of the international 
application; it shall be certified at the request of the 
Patent Office within a time limit to be prescribed by that 
Patent Office. The application shall lapse if the provi­
sions of this paragraph have not been complied with in 
due time. 
(4) The Patent Office shall examine as soon as 
possible. unless the Patent Office has found that the 
application has lapsed by reason of Articles 24 or 39(2) 
of the Cooperation Treaty, whether the provisions of 
Section 22A(3) and (4) have been complied with. If they 
have not been complied with, the Patent Office shall IP/N/1/NLDIPI2 
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LAWS AND TREATIES 
notify the applicant thereof as soon as possible stating 
the requirements that have not been satisfied. The 
application shall lapse if the requirements stated have 
not been satisfied within four months from the date of 
that notification. 
(5) The notification and the laying open to public 
inspection referred to in Section 22C shall be effected as 
soon as possible, but not before it has been ascertained 
that the provisions of Section 22A(3) and (4) have been 
complied with or that a deficiency in that respect has 
been remedied in due time. The report referred to in 
Article 18 of the Cooperation Treaty or the declaration 
referred to in Article 17(2)(a) of that Treaty and the 
report referred to in Article 35 of that Treaty shall also 
be laid open to public inspection. Section 43A shall 
apply only after the international application has been 
laid open to public inspection in accordance with 
Section 22C. 
(6) Ifa request as specified in Section 221(1), (2) or 
(10) is filed, the search to be carried out by the Patent 
Office shall serve as a supplement to the report provided 
for in Article 18 of the Cooperation Treaty By Order in 
Council of the Realm it may be prescribed in which 
cases and to what extent such a supplementary search 
shall not be carried out and also in which cases and to 
what extent the fee referred to in Section 221(4) or (l0) 
shall be reduced The communication referred to in 
Section 221(9) shall, where applicable, name the amount 
of the refund to be made. 
29L.-( I) Decisions to be taken by the Patent Office 
as a designated Office pursuant to Article 25(2) of the 
Cooperation Treaty shall be taken by a Special Division 
of the Patent Office, this Division having heard or at 
least having duly summoned the applicant. 
(2) The decisions referred to in paragraph (1) shall 
state the grounds on which they are based and shall be 
communicated without delay to the applicant by the 
Patent Office. Article 24A shall apply mutatis mutandis 
to these decisions. 
(3) Ifit has been decided that the international filing 
date was wrongly refused or that the application was 
wrongly considered to have been withdrawn, the appli­
cation shall be deemed to be an application filed under 
this Act of the Kingdom Sections 291 and 29K shall not 
apply to such an application. The application shall be 
deemed to have been filed at the Patent Office on the 
day indicated by the filing date of the international 
application which should have been accorded or has 
been accorded; for the purposes of Sections 22(1) and 
NL IP/N/lINLDIP12 
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INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY -MAY 1989 
22A(5), the date on which the documents specified in 
Article 25(1) and (2) of the Cooperation Treaty have 
been received shall apply. 
Chapter HA 
Provisions Governing European Patents 
29M.-(I) In conformity with the provisions of this 
Act of the Kingdom. European patents shall have the 
same effect in the Netherlands and shall be governed by 
the same legal provisions as patents granted under this 
Act of the Kingdom from the date on which the mention 
of the grant is published in accordance with Article 97(4) 
of the European Patent Convention. 
(2) Where the provisions of Sections 32(1),34(4),47 
and 52 govern European patents, the filing date shall be 
considered to be the filing date accorded to the 
European patent application which resulted in the grant 
of the European patent pursuant to Article 80 of the 
European Patent Convention in conformity with 
Articles 61 and 76 of that Convention. 
29N.-(l) The Patent Office shall, without delay, 
enter in the register as specified in Section 25(1) the 
publication, pursuant to Article 97(4) of the European 
Patent Convention, of the mention of the grant of a 
European patent, and shall make notification thereof in 
the Journal referred to in that Section. 
(2) The Patent Office shall, without delay, enter in 
the register referred to in the preceding paragraph any 
opposition filed to a European patent, stating the date of 
filing of the opposition and the decisions of the 
European Patent Office relative thereto. The Patent 
Office shall make notification thereof in the 10urnal 
referred to in the preceding paragraph. 
290. The proprietor of a European patent who does 
not have his domicile in the Netherlands shall be 
obliged to elect domicile in this country and to notify the 
Patent Office thereof in writing, which election of 
domicile shall remain in force subject to a change of the 
domicile elected, which change shall be notified to the 
Patent Office in writing. If on the date of entry in the 
public register referred to in Section 29N(1) the obli­
gation specified above has not been met, the Patent 
Office shall notify the proprietor of the patent thereof 
within 14 days, stating the date of this entry. The patent 
shall lapse if the obligation referred to in the first 
sentence has not been met within a period of three 
months from this date. The Patent Office shall enter this 
NL LAWS AND TREATIES 
lapse in the above-mentioned register and shall make 
notification of it in the 10urnal referred to in Section 
25(1). 
29P.-(1) Within a time limit to be prescribed by 
Order in Council, any person to whom a European 
patent has been granted must supply the Patent Office 
with a translation into the Dutch language of the text of 
the patent specification. Furthermore, a fee shall be 
payable the amount of which and the time limit within 
which payment shall be effected shall be prescribed by 
Order in Council. The translation shall be certified by a 
representative admitted as such in accordance with 
Section l8A The translation and the certification of the 
translation shall satisfy formal requirements to be 
prescribed by Order in Council. 
(2) If on receipt within the time limit referred to in 
paragraph (I) the formal requirements referred to in the 
last sentence of the said paragraph have not, in the 
opinion of the Patent Office, been satisfied, the Patent 
Office shall notify the proprietor of the patent without 
delay with a statement of the requirements that have not 
been satisfied and of the time limit within which the 
deficiencies that have been found may be remedied. 
(3) On receipt of the translation in the proper form 
the Patent Office shall, without delay, enter it in the 
register referred to in Section 25( 1), make notification of 
it in the 10urnal referred to in that paragraph and lay the 
translation open to public inspection at the Industrial 
Propeny Office. 
(4) The European patent shall be deemed not to 
have had, ab initio, the effect referred to in Section 29M 
if: 
(a) within the time limit referred to in paragraph (1), 
the translation has not been received by the Patent 
Office or the fee payable by virtue of that paragraph has 
not been paid; or 
(b) within the time limit referred to in paragraph (2), 
the requirements which have been stated have not yet 
been satisfied. 
(5) If the European patent shall be deemed, by virtue 
of paragraph (4) not to have had, ab initio, the effect 
referred to in Section 29M, the Patent Office shall, 
without delay, make an entry thereof in the register 
referred to in paragraph (3) and shall make notification 
of it in the 10urnal referred to in that paragraph. 
(6) The preceding paragraph shall apply mutatis 
mutandis if the European patent has been amended 
during the opposition proceedings. INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY -MAY 1989 
(7) The proprietor of the patent may supply the 
Patent Office with a corrected translation at any time, 
for which a fee shall be payable the amount of which 
shall be prescribed by Order in Council Paragraphs (I), 
third and fourth sentences, (2) and (3) shall apply 
mutatis mutandis. 
29Q. Section 17A shall apply mutatis mutandis if 
the proprietor ofa European patent-despite his having 
exercised all due care required under the circum­
stances-was unable to observe the time limit 
prescribed in Section 290 or a time limit prescribed by 
virtue of.Section 29P. 
Chapter III 
Legal Effects of the Patent 
Part I 
Rights and Obligations of the Proprietor 
of the Patent 
30.-(1) Subject to the provisions of Sections 31 to 
34B, a patent shall confer on its proprietor the sole 
right: 
(a) to make, use, put on the market or resell, hire out 
or deliver the patented product or deal in any other way, 
in or for his business, in the patented product or to offer, 
import or stock it for any of those purposes; 
(b) to apply the patented process in or for his 
business or to use, put on the market, or resell, hire out, 
deliver the product obtained directly as a result of the 
application of the patented process, or deal in any other 
way, in or for his business, in the product or to offer, 
import or stock it for any of those purposes, with the 
exception of any product excluded from the grant of a 
patent as a result of Section 3(2). 
(2) The sole right shall be determined by the 
contents of the claims of the patent specification, the 
description and the drawings serving to interpret those 
claims. 
(3) The sole right shall not extend to acts exclusively 
done for experimental purposes relating to the subject 
matter of the patented invention, including the product 
obtained directly as a result of applying the patented 
process. 
(4) If a product as referred to in paragraph (l)(a) or 
(b) has been put on the market lawfully in the Kingdom, 
or. where a European patent is concerned. in the Nether­
lands, the person who has obtained such product or the IP 1Nl lINLDIP 12 
Page 19 
LAWS AND TREATIES 
subsequent proprietor shall not contravene the patent 
by using, selling, hiring out or delivering the product or 
by dealing in any other way, in or for his business, in the 
product, or by offering, importing, or stocking it for any 
of those purposes. A product as specified in paragraph 
(I)(a) or (b) which was manufactured by a business prior 
to the date of publication, in accordance with Section 
25, of the application that resulted in the grant of the 
patent, or, where a European patent is concerned, prior 
to the date of publication, in accordance with Article 
97(4) of the European Patent Convention, of the 
mention of the grimt of the European patent, may be 
used or continued to be used on behalf ofthat business, 
notwithstanding the patent. 
30A. -( I) A European patent shall be deemed notto 
have had, as from the outset, all or part of the effects 
specified in Sections 30, 43B and 44A to the extent that 
the patent has been wholly or partially revoked during 
opposition proceedings. 
(2) The retroactive effect of the revocation shall not 
effect: 
(a) a decision relating to acts in contravention ofthe 
sole right of the proprietor of the patent as specified in 
Section 30 or to acts as specified in Sections 43B and 
44A which has acquired the authority ofa final decision 
and has been enforced prior to the revocation; 
(b) any contract concluded prior to the revocation to 
the extent that it has been performed prior to the revo­
cation; on grounds of equity, repayment may be 
claimed of sums paid under the contract, to the extent 
justified by the circumstances. 
(3) For the purposes of paragraph (2)(b), the 
conclusion of a contract shall also be deemed to include 
a license originating in a manner different from that 
designated in Section 33(2), 34A or 34B. 
31. The sole right of the proprietor of the patent shall 
not extend to: 
(a) the use, on board vessels of other countries, of 
the subject matter of his patented invention in the body 
of the vessel, in the machinery, the rigging, the tackle 
and other accessories thereof, when such vessels are in 
the waters of the Kingdom temporarily or accidentally, 
provided that the invention is used for the actual needs 
of the vessel only; 
(b) the use of the subject matter of his patented 
invention in the construction or operation of aircraft or 
land vehicles or of the accessories of such aircraft or 
land vehicles belonging to other countries, when such 
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INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY -MAY 1989 
aircraft or land vehicles are in the Kingdom temporarily 
or accidentally; 
(c) acts specified in Article 27 of the Chicago 
Convention on International Civil Aviation of 
December 7, 1944, provided that those acts are relative 
to an aircraft of a State-other than the Kingdom­
mentioned under (c) of that Article. 
32.-(1) Any person who has already made or 
applied or who has commenced to put into practice his 
intentions to make or apply, in or tor his business, the 
subject matter ofa patent application filed by somebody 
else, within the Kingdom or, where a European patent is 
concerned, in the Netherlands, on the filing date of that 
application or, if the applicant has a right of priority by 
virtue of Section 7(1) or Article 87 of the European 
Patent Convention, on the filing date of the application 
conferring the right of priority, notwithstanding the 
patent, shall continue to have the right to do the acts 
referred to in Section 30(1), this right being based on 
prior use, unless he has obtained his knowledge from 
matter already made or applied by the applicant or from 
the applicant's descriptions, drawings or models. 
(2) Paragraph (1) shall apply mutatis mutandis to 
that part of the continental shelf contiguous to the 
Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles or Aruba-or, 
where a European patent is concerned, contiguous to the 
Netherlands-to which the Kingdom has sovereign 
rights, but solely to the extent that such acts are directed 
at and are performed during the exploration or the 
exploitation of natural resources as referred to in 
Section 44B. 
(3) Within the time limit provided for in Section 
25(3) or, where a European patent is concerned, within 
the time limit referred to in Article 99(1) of the 
European Patent Convention, any person who 
considers that he has a right based on prior use may 
request the Patent Office to provide him with a certif­
icate in respect of the acts, done by him in fact, on the 
strength of which he would be entitled to the right as 
referred to in paragraph (1). Where proof of those acts 
has been provided to the satisfaction of the Patent 
Office, the Patent Office shall issue the certificate to 
him. The acts done by him in fact stated therein shall 
thereby be taken to be established unless evidence to the 
contrary is given. An entry shall be made of the issue of 
such a certificate in the public registers of the Patent 
Office. 
(4) A request for a certificate as referred to in the 
preceding paragraph shall be made in a statement 
accompanied by the reasons therefor, shall give in a 
NL LAWS AND TREATIES 
clear manner the name and residence of the person 
making the request and shall bear the signature of that 
person or of his representative authorized in writing. 
The representative, who shall satisfy the conditions to 
be prescribed by Order in Council for his admission as 
such, shall represent the person making the request in all 
matters concerning the request, subject to replacement 
or revocation. Where the person making the request is 
not domiciled in the Kingdom, he shall be obliged to 
elect domicile in the Netherlands with a represen­
tative 
(5) The right referred to in paragraph (1) may only be 
transferred to other persons with the business. 
33.-(1) The right to perform acts prohibited to any 
person other than the proprietor of the patent by virtue 
of Section 30 may be acquired from the proprietor by 
means of a license. That right shall extend to all the acts 
referred to in the above-mentioned Section and shall 
continue to be in force for as long as the patent has effect, 
except if a less extensive right has been granted under 
the license. 
(2) A license shall be created by an agreement, by an 
accepted testamentary disposition or, in accordance 
with Section 34, by a decision taken by Our Minister of 
Economic Affairs or by the Patent Office. A license 
created by an agreement or an accepted testamentary 
disposition shall have effect vis-a-vis third parties after 
an entry ofits title has been made in the public registers 
of the Patent Office. For this entry a fee, to be prescribed 
by Order in Council of the Realm, shall be payable. 
(3) Where the right to remuneration in respect of a 
license, pursuant to the provisions of Section 51 (8) or 
53(4), is transferred, the successors in title shall be 
entitled to a part of the total remuneration paid for and 
to be paid for the license in proportion to the time 
during which the license should continue to have effect 
under normal circumstances. If the amount still to be 
paid by the licensee is insufficient to provide the 
successor in title with that which is due to him, the latter 
may seek redress from the former for the deficiency. 
34.-( I) Our Minister of Economic Affairs may, if 
he considers it in the public interest, grant a license 
under a patent, the content of which shall be specified 
accurately by him, to a person designated by him. 
Before giving his decision Our Minister shall, unless this 
is not compatible with the speed required in the matter, 
ascertain whether the proprietor of the patent is willing 
to grant the license voluntarily and on reasonable terms. 
To this end, he shall give the proprietor of the patent an INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY -MAY 1989 
opportunity to express his sentiments on the matter in 
writing and, at his request, orally as well The decision 
shall state the grounds on which it is based and shall be 
sent to the proprietor of the patent by registered letter. 
In his decision, Our Minister may impose upon the 
licensee the obligation to deposit security within a 
certain time limit. An appeal, lodged by the proprietor 
of the patent, shall lie from the decision to Us within a 
month after the dispatch of the decision. The appeal 
shall have sus pensive effect, unless the decision of Our 
Minister provides otherwise in consequence of the 
speed required in the matter, if in the latter case the 
decision is revoked in whole or in pan on appeal, the 
consequences thereof shall be provided for at the same 
time. 
(2) Where neither the proprietor of a patent nor any 
other person who was granted a license has, in the 
Kingdom or in any other country to be designated by 
Order in Council of the Realm, after the expiration of 
three years from the grant of the patent, an industrial 
establishment in operation in which the product 
concerned is being made or the process concerned is 
being applied in good faith and on a sufficient scale, the 
proprietor of the patent shall be obliged to grant a 
license required for having such an establishment in 
operation, unless valid reasons are shown to exist for the 
absence of such an establishment This obligation shall 
have effect for the proprietor of a European patent if 
after the expiration of three years from the date on 
which the mention of the grant of the European patent 
was published in accordance with Anicle 97(4) of the 
European Patent Convention, an industrial estab­
lishment as referred to above is not in operation in the 
Netherlands or in another country to be designated by 
Order in Council of the Realm 
(3) Paragraph (2) shall not apply if the proprietor ofa 
patent or any other person who has been granted a 
license has an industrial establishment in operation in 
that pan of the continental shelf contiguous to the 
Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles or Aruba-or, 
where a European patent is concerned, contiguous to the 
Netherlands-to which the Kingdom has sovereign 
rights, in which, in good faith and on a sufficient scale, 
acts are done as referred to in that paragraph, provided 
that such acts are directed at and are performed during 
the exploration or the exploitation of natural resources 
as referred to in Section 44B 
(4) The proprietor ofa patent shall be obliged at any 
time to grant a license required for the working of a 
patent granted in respect of an application which has the 
same or a later filing date or, where there is a right of IP/NIlINLDIP12 
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LAWS AND TREATIES 
priority attaching to the application, date of priority; the 
proprietor of the patent, however, shall only be obliged 
to grant a license required for the working of a European 
patent after the expiry of the time limit for filing an 
opposition to the European patent or after the oppo­
sition proceedings thus instituted have been termi­
nated. Such a license shall not extend to anything 
beyond that which is necessary for the working of the 
patented invention of the licensee. The latter shall be 
obliged to grant a reciprocal license under his patent to 
the proprietor of the other patent. 
(5) The license referred to in paragraph (2) or (4) 
shall be granted at the request of the party concerned by 
the Patent Office if the Patent Office determines that the 
obligation to grant it has not been met The request for 
the grant ofa license as referred to in the first sentence of 
paragraph (4) may also be filed by a person whose patent 
application was published under Section 2S(l) or by the 
proprietor of a European patent before expiration of the 
time limit for the filing of an opposition to the European 
patent or before termination of opposition proceedings 
so instituted. The proprietor of a patent under which a 
license has been requested may file the request for a 
reciprocal license as referred to in the last sentence of 
paragraph (4) from the moment the request for a license 
relating to his own patent has been made. The provi­
sions of Section 32(4) shall apply mutatis mutandis to 
those requests They shall be entered in the public 
registers of the Patent Office. 
(6) A request as referred to in the preceding para­
graph shall be examined by a Special Division in the 
first instance This Division shall give the other party 
concerned an opportunity to take cognizance of the 
request and shall deliver a decision after hearing both 
panies, or at least after having duly summoned them to 
appear. If the request for the grant ofa license as referred 
to in the first sentence of paragraph (4) has been filed in 
accordance with the second sentence of paragraph (5) 
and, moreover, if a notice of opposition or a request as 
referred to in Section 25 or 32 has been filed in respect of 
the application or a request as referred to in Section 32 
in respect of the European patent, the requests, the 
above-mentioned notices of opposition and the appli­
cation for the grant ofa reciprocal license as referred to 
in the last sentence of paragraph (4) shall be examined 
jointly by the Special Division, insofar as possible in 
connection with the filing dates of those documents. A 
license applied for on the basis of the first sentence of 
paragraph (4) shall not be granted prior to the grant ofa 
patent relating to the application filed by the person who 
made the request; where the license is required for the 
NL IP/N/1/NLD/P/2 
Page 22 
INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY -MAY 1989 
working of a European patent, such license may not be 
granted prior to the expiration of the time limit for the 
filing of an opposition to the European patent or prior to 
the termination of opposition proceedings so instituted. 
Section 27 shall apply mutatis mutandis. 
(7) The decision of the Patent Office, to be contained 
in a statement accompanied by the reasons therefor, 
shall furnish a precise definition of the license granted, 
which definition may differ from the subject matter of 
the request In the decision, the Patent Office may 
require the licensee to deposit security within a fixed 
time limit. A license granted under paragraph (2) shall 
be non-exclusive and may not be transferred, not even 
by means of the grant of SUb-licenses, other than 
together with that part of the business in which the 
license is being worked. A license granted under para­
graph (4), first or third sentence, shall not lapse where 
the patent for which the license has been granted has 
lapsed as a result of the expiry of the time limit referred 
to in Section 47 or where the patent has been revoked in 
whole or in part or has been claimed successfully. A 
reciprocal license granted pursuant to paragraph (4), last 
sentence, for a European patent shall not lapse if that 
patent has been revoked. 
(8) A decision as specified in paragraph (1) or (7) 
shall be entered in the public registers of the Patent 
Office at the request of the licensee. Where security is 
required to be furnished, the entry shall not be made 
before that requirement has been met For the making of 
the entry, a fee shall be payable the amount of which 
shall be prescribed by Order in Council of the Realm. 
The license shall not enter into effect before the making 
ofthe entry, but shall subsequently also have effect with 
regard to persons who became entitled to the patent 
after the making of the entry in respect of the request 
specified in paragraph (5) However, a license, in respect 
of which an entry has been made, granted on the basis of 
the provisions of paragraph (4), shall have retroactive 
effect from the date on which an entry in respect of the 
request was made. 
(9) After the grant of a license pursuant to the 
preceding paragraphs, the parties concerned may 
request the Patent Office in writing to fix the amount of 
remuneration payable to the proprietor of the patent. 
The Patent Office shall comply with that request. The 
decision of the Patent Office shall be binding on the 
parties concerned. Where the parties do not address 
such a request to the Patent Office and where they 
cannot settle the amount of remuneration by agreement, 
the remuneration shall, upon a suit instituted by the 
most diligent party, be fixed by the court, which may 
NL LAWS AND TREATIES 
impose upon the licensee the obligation to deposit 
security within a specified time limit or which may 
confirm or amend the security fixed pursuant to the 
provisions of paragraph (1) or (7). 
34A.-(l) Where We deem it in the interest of the 
defense of the Kingdom, We may, upon the joint recom­
mendation of Our Minister directly concerned and of 
Our Minister of Economic Affairs, order that the State 
shall be authorized to perform itself or cause others to 
perform acts, to be specified precisely by Our Order, to 
which the proprietor of a patent to be designated by Us 
has the exclusive right to perform pursuant to Section 
30. The authorization shall apply during the whole term 
in which the patent is in force, unless a shorter term has 
been determined by Our Order. 
(2) Upon the entering into effect of Our Order, Our 
Minister directly concerned shall fix, by agreement with 
the proprietor of the patent, the remuneration payable 
to the latter by the State. If Our Minister has not reached 
an agreement with the proprietor of the patent within 
six months from the date of the entry into force of Our 
Order, Section 34(9), except for the provisions 
concerning the deposit of security, shall apply mutatis 
mutandis. 
34B.-(I) Subject to Section 33(2), first sentence, a 
license shall be obtained by: 
(a) a decision of the Arbitration Committee as 
referred to in Article 20 of the Treaty establishing the 
European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM); 
(b) a decision of the Patent Office pursuant to Article 
21 of the above-mentioned Treaty 
(2) In respect of a license obtained by a final decision 
as specified in paragraph (l)(a), Section 33(2), second 
and third sentences, shall apply mutalis mutandis. 
(3) In respect of a decision as referred to in para­
graph (l)(b), Section 34(5), first, fourth and fifth 
sentences, (6), first, second and last sentences, (7) and 
(8), first, second and third sentences, shall apply mutatis 
mutandis In respect of a license granted by virtue of 
such a decision, Section 34(8), fourth sentence, and (9), 
last sentence, shall apply mutatis mutandis. 
(4) A license as referred to in paragraph (1) shall be 
without effect for the Netherlands Antilles and 
Aruba. 
35.-(1) A renewal fee for a patent shall be due 
annually on the last day of the month in which the 
application that resulted in the grant of the patent was INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY -MAY 1989 
filed, or on the last day of the month in which the 
application shall be deemed to have been filed under 
Section 8A, and the amount of that fee shall be 
prescribed by Order in Council of the Realm. If the 
patent was granted in the same month as that in which 
the application that resulted in the grant of that patent 
was filed, the fee due for the first time may be paid on 
the last day of the following month. 
(2) With regard to a European patent, a renewal fee 
as referred to in paragraph (I) shall be due.annually, but 
only on expiry of the year referred to in Article 86(4) of 
the European Patent Convention, on the last day of the 
month in'which the European patent application that 
resulted in the grant of the patent was filed, pursuant to 
Article 80 of the European Patent Convention in 
conformity with Article 61 or 76 of that Convention. If 
the fee falling due for the first time would be payable 
within a period of two months from the date of publi* 
cation of the mention of the grant of the European 
patent in accordance with Article 97(4) of the European 
Patent Convention, the fee may be paid on the last day 
of the month containing the expiration of that 
period 
(3) The payments shall be made to the Industrial 
Property Office. Payment before the due date shall be 
permitted. 
(4) For payments after the due date additional fees 
shall be due, the amount of which shall be prescribed by 
Order in Council of the Realm. 
36. [Repealed} 
Part II 
The Patent as an Object of Property 
37.-(1) The patent and the right to a patent as 
provided for in Chapter I of this Act of the Kingdom 
shall be assignable or otherwise transferable in full or 
joint ownership. 
(2) They shall be deemed to be personal property, 
subject to the special provisions of this Act of the 
Kingdom. 
(3) The assignment and other transfer of the patent 
or of the right arising from the patent application may 
be the subject of an entry in the registers of the Patent 
Office. For the making of such an entry, a fee shall be 
payable to be prescribed by Order in Council of the 
Realm. IP/NIlINLD/P/2 
Page 23 
LAWS AND TREATIES 
38.-(1) An assignment of the patent, as well as of 
the right arising from the patent application, shall be 
effected by means of an instrument containing a decla* 
ration of the proprietor of the patent that he assigns the 
patent or the right arising from the patent application to 
the assignee and a declaration of the assignee that he 
accepts the assignment. 
(2) Any reservation relating to the assignment must 
be defined in the instrument; in the absence of any such 
reservation, the assignment shall be deemed to be 
unrestricted. 
(3) The assignment shall take effect vis-a*vis third 
parties only after an entry has been made in respect of 
the instrument in the relative register of the Patent 
Office. Both parties shall have an equal right to have the 
entry made in the register. 
39.-(1) Where several persons are jointly entitled 
to the patent, their interrelationship shall be governed 
by that which has been fixed by agreement among them­
selves. 
(2) Where there is no agreement or where the 
agreement does not state otherwise, any person entitled 
to the patent shall have the right to perform the acts 
referred to in Section 30 and to bring proceedings in 
respect of any such act as well as in respect of acts 
referred to in Section 44A(l) and (2) performed by a 
person not having this right, pursuant to Sections 43 to 
45, but a license or permission as referred to in Section 
44A(2) may only be granted by common consent of the 
persons entitled to the patent 
(3) With regard to the payment of the fee referred to 
in Section 35, the persons entitled to the patent shall be 
bound separately 
40.-( I) A lien on a patent shall be established by a 
deed entered in the public registers of the Patent Office. 
It shall only be valid if the amount for which it was 
granted is mentioned in the deed and it shall continue to 
have effect even where the patent is alienated 
(2) The lienor shall be required, by means of a decla­
ration bearing his signature to be sent to the Patent 
Office for registration, to elect domicile in The Hague. If 
domicile has not been elected in this way, the Industrial 
Property Office shall be deemed to be the elected 
domicile 
(3) Stipulations ofthe lien concerning the granting of 
licenses after registration shall take effect, vis-a.-vis 
third parties as well, from their date of entry in the 
public registers of the Patent Office. Stipulations 
NL IP/N/lINLD/P/2 
Page 24 
INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY -MAY 1989 
concerning remuneration for licenses granted prior to 
registration shall take effect vis-a-vis the licensee after a 
writ has been served on him. 
(4) An entry shall be made in the public registers of 
the Patent Office of deeds from which it appears that the 
lien has ceased to exist or has ceased to have effect. 
41.-(1) In the case ofthe attachmentofa patent, the 
records of the attachment shall be entered in the public 
registers of the Patent Office. 
(2) When the entry has been made, the proprietor of 
the patent against whom the attachment was levied shall 
not alienate or encumber the patent so attached or grant 
licenses under it; rights established after the entry has 
been made shall not be invoked against the person 
levying the attachment. License fees not paid prior to 
the making of the entry shall be included by right in the 
attachment after a writ has been served on the licensee. 
Those fees-in case the attachment serves the preser­
vation of a right, after the court has confirmed the 
attachment by a final judgment-shall be payable, 
together with the selling price of the patent, to the 
person levying the attachment for apportionment to the 
creditors in order of precedence. 
(3) Upon discontinuation of the attachment, the 
title furnishing proof of such discontinuation shall be 
entered in the public registers of the Patent Office. 
Where the attachment serves the preservation ofa right, 
Sections 770e to 770g of the Netherlands Code of Civil 
Procedure shall apply, it being understood that the 
provisions of Section 770g in respect of the Recorder of 
Mortgages shall apply to the Patent Office. 
42.-(1) The sale of a patent given in lien or of a 
patent on which attachment has been levied shall be 
effected publicly before a notary public. 
(2) The creditor who institutes proceedings for the 
sale must serve notice of the date of the sale at least 30 
days before that date to all the lienors or judgment 
creditors then registered at their elected domicile. 
(3) The title furnishing proof of the sale shall be 
entered in the public registers of the Patent Office. 
(4) The purchaser may demand, where the sale has 
been effected in accordance with paragraphs (I) and (2), 
that the patent be disencumbered from the liabilities of 
the lien in excess of the purchase price, in conformity 
with the provisions in Sections 1256 to 1263 of the 
Netherlands Civil Code and Sections 551 to 562 of the 
Netherlands Civil Code of Procedure, it being under­
stood that liens shall be deemed to be mortgages and the 
NL LAWS AND TREATIES 
registers of the Patent Office shall be deemed to be the 
registers of the Recorder of Mortgages for the purposes 
of those provisions. 
Part III 
Enforcement of the Patent 
43.-(1) The proprietor ofa patent may enforce his 
patent vis-a.-vis any person who, without being entitled 
to do so, performs any of the acts referred to in Section 
30(1). 
(2) Damages may be claimed only from a person 
who performs such acts being aware that he has no right 
to do so. In any event, a person shall be deemed to have 
been so aware if the infringement was committed after 
the expiry of 30 days following the service of a writ 
indicating the acts done in contravention of the 
patent. 
(3) In lieu of a claim for damages, the proprietor of a 
patent may claim that the defendant be ordered to 
surrender the profits derived by him from the 
infringement and to give an accounting of such profits; 
if the court determines, however, that the circumstances 
of the case do not justify the making of such an order, it 
may order the defendant to pay damages. 
(4) The proprietor ofa patent may institute actions 
for damages or for the surrendering of profits on behalf 
of himself, licensees or lienors, or on behalf oflicensees 
or lienors only, without prejudice to the right of the 
latter parties to intervene in the action brought by the 
proprietor of the patent, whether or not brought exclu­
sively or also on their behalf, in order to ob,tain direct 
indemnification for their losses or in order to be 
awarded a proportional share of the profits to be surren­
dered by the defendant. Independent actions may only 
be brought by licensees and lienors, and writs as referred 
to in paragraph (2) may only be caused to be served with 
a view to such actions, if the proprietor of the patent has 
granted the entitlement to do so. 
(5) Where proceedings are brought for the 
enforcement of a patent relating to a process for the 
manufacture of a new product, it shall be assumed that 
the product in question has been manufactured by using 
the patented process, unless the defendant can establish 
the plausibility of the contrary, The contents of patent 
applications as provided for in Section 2(3) and (4) shall 
not be taken into consideration in a judgment relating to 
the novelty of a product. INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY-MAY 1989 
43A.-( I) Subject to the provisions of paragraph (4), 
the proprietor of a patent may demand reasonable 
compensation from a person who, in the period between 
the laying open to public inspection, in accordance with 
Section 22C, of the application which has resulted in the 
grant of the patent and the publication under Section 25 
of that application or of the divisional application 
related thereto under Section 8A, performed acts as 
specified in Section 30(1), insofar as the proprietor of 
the patent has acquired the exclusive rights thereto. 
(2) Subject to the provisions of paragraph (4), the 
proprietor of a patent may also demand reasonable 
compensation from a person who, after the publication 
as specified in paragraph (1), has performed acts, as 
referred to in that paragraph, with regard to products 
that were put on the market during the period 
mentioned in that paragraph. The proprietor of the 
patent may demand a similar compensation from any 
person who, after the publication, has used products as 
specified in Section 30(1), (aJ or (b), for his business that 
were manufactured in his business in the period referred 
to in paragraph (I). 
(3) The compensation referred to in paragaraphs (I) 
and (2) shall only be due for acts performed after the 
expiry of 30 days following the date on which the party 
concerned was informed, by means of a writ indicating 
precisely which part of the patent application relates to 
such acts, of the right to which the proprietor of the 
patent is entitled by virtue of this Section. 
(4) The right to which the proprietor of a patent is 
entitled by virtue of this Section shall not extend to acts 
performed by a person entitled to do so by virtue of 
Section 32 or of an agreement, nor shall it extend to acts 
with regard to products that were put on the market 
either prior to the laying open to public inspection of the 
patent application in question under Section 22C or 
thereafter, by the applicant or a person entitled to do so 
as specified above 
43B.-(I) The proprietor ofa European patent may, 
subject to the provisions of paragraph (4), demand 
reasonable compensation from any person who, in the 
period between the publication, pursuant to Article 93 
of the European Patent Convention, of the application 
which has resulted in the grant of the patent and the 
publication, referred to in Article 97(4) of that 
Convention, of the mention of the grant of the European 
patent in respect of the said application or in respect of a 
divisional application related thereto by virtue of 
Article 76 of the said Convention, performed acts as 
specified in Section 30( I), insofar as the proprietor of IP/NIlINLDIP12 
Page 25 
LAWS AND TREATIES 
the patent has acquired the exclusive rights thereto and 
such acts are within the scope of the last filed published 
claims. 
(2) Subject to the provisions of paragraph (4), the 
proprietor of a European patent may also demand 
reasonable compensation from any person who, after 
the publication referred to in paragraph (1) of the 
mention of the grant of the European patent, has 
performed acts as referred to in that paragraph with 
regard to products that were put on the market during 
the period specified in that paragraph. The proprietor of 
the patent may demand a similar compensation from 
any person who, after the publication referred to in 
paragraph (1), has used products as specified in Sec­
tion 30(1), (a) or (b), for his business that were manu­
factured in his business in the period referred to in para­
graph (I) 
(3) The compensation referred to in paragraphs (1) 
and (2) shall only be due for acts performed after the 
expiry of 30 days following the date on which the party 
concerned was informed by means ofa writ of the right 
to which the proprietor of the patent is entitled by virtue 
of this Section. This writ, indicating precisely which 
part of the patent application relates to such acts, shall 
be accompanied by service of notice ofa translation into 
the Dutch language of the claims as contained in the 
publication of the European patent application in accor­
dance with Article 93 of the European Patent 
Convention. Ifsuch translation was laid open to public 
inspection at the Industrial Property Office prior to the 
serving of the writ and that Office made notification ofit 
in the Journal referred to in Section 25(1), serving notice 
of the translation may be omitted, provided that 
mention is made in the writ of the fact that the trans­
lation has been laid open to public inspection. 
(4) The right to which the proprietor of a patent is 
entitled by virtue of this Section shall not extend to acts 
performed by a person entitled to do so by virtue of 
Section 32 or of an agreement, nor shall it extend to acts 
with regard to products that were put on the market 
either prior to the publication of the application under 
paragraph (1), in accordance with Article 93 of the 
European Patent Convention, or thereafter by the 
applicant or a person entitled to do so as specified 
above. 
(5) The Patent Office shall, as soon as possible, 
provide for the laying open to public inspection as 
specified in paragraph (3) and to the notification in 
respect of translations which the Patent Office has 
received. 
NL IP/N/lINLD/P/2 
Page 26 
INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY -MA Y 1989 
44.-(1) An action for compensation or for the 
surrendering of profits derived from infringement as 
specified in Section 43 may also be based on acts done 
prior to the date of the patent referred to in Section 
28(1), but after publication in accordance with Section 
25 of the application 'that has resulted in the grant of the 
patent 
(2) A writ as referred to in Section 43(2) may be 
served at the request of a person whose patent appli­
cation has been published in accordance with Section 
25, but in respect of whose application a final decision 
has not yet been taken. 
44bis. [Repealed] 
44A.-(l) The proprietor of the patent may make 
the same demands which are at his disposal in 
the maintenance of his patent from any third party 
who, in the Kingdom, or where a European patent is 
concerned, in the Netherlands, offers or delivers in 
or for his business means in respect of an essential 
part of the invention to other persons than those who, 
by virtue of Sections 32 to 34B are empowered to 
apply the patented invention, for the application 
of the patented invention in the Kingdom. or 
where a European patent is concerned, in the 
Netherlands, provided that that third party knows 
or that it is evident considering the circumstances 
that those means are suitable and destined for that 
application 
NL (2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply if the offer or the 
delivery takes place with the consent of the proprietor of 
the patent. Nor shall that paragraph apply if the 
delivered or offered means are products which are 
generally obtainable in commerce, unless that third 
party incites the person to whom he delivers to perform 
acts specified in Section 30(1). 
(3) Section 43(4) shall apply mutatis mutandis. 
44B.-(l) The rights and obligations arising out of 
Sections 30 to 44A shall also apply in, on and above that 
part of the continental shelf contiguous to the Nether­
lands, the Netherlands Antilles or Aruba-or, where a 
European patent is concerned, contiguous to the 
Netherlands-to which the Kingdom has sovereign 
rights, but solely to the extent that such acts are directed 
at and are performed during the exploration or the 
exploitation of natural resources. LAWS AND TREATIES 
(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1) the term 
"natural resources" is used to refer to: the mineral and 
other non-living resources of the seabed and subsoil, 
together with living organisms belonging to sedentary 
species, that is to say, organisms which, at the 
harvestable stage, either are immobile on or under the 
sea bed or are unable to move except in constant 
physical contact with the sea bed or the subsoil. 
45.-(1) Any person who deliberately infringes the 
right of the proprietor of a patent by performing any of 
the acts referred to in Section 30( 1) shall be liable to 
imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or 
to a fine not exceeding 1,500 guilders 
(2) If the offender commits the offense within a 
period of less than five years from the date on which a 
former conviction for a similar offense became final, the 
maximum penal sanctions referred to in the preceding 
paragraph shall be doubled 
(3) On conviction of the offender, the court may 
order that its judgment be made pUblic. 
(4) Where objects have been declared forfeit, the 
persons entitled to the patent may demand that those 
objects be surrendered to them by filing a request to that 
effect with the Clerk of the Court within eight days 
from the date on which the judgment has become 
final. 
(5) The penal offenses referred to in this Section 
shall be deemed to be misdemeanors. 
46.-(1) Any person who applies words or symbols 
to any goods in such a way as to represent falsely either 
that protection has been granted or applied for in respect 
of those goods or that protection under this Act of the 
Kingdom has been granted or applied for shall be liable 
to detention for a term not exceeding three months or to 
a fine not exceeding 1,500 guilders 
(2) Any person who sells, offers to sell, delivers, 
stocks for sale in the Kingdom or imports into the 
Kingdom any goods to which words or symbols have 
been applied in such a way as to represent falsely either 
that protection has been granted or applied for in respect 
of those goods or that protection under this Act of the 
Kingdom has been granted or applied for shall be liable 
to the same penal sanctions as those specified in the 
preceding paragraph. 
(3) The offenses made punishable under this Section 
shall be deemed to be transgressions. Section 45(2).and 
(3) shall apply mutatis mutandis. INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY -MAY 1989 
Chapter IV 
Term of the Patent. 
Claiming the Right to the Patent 
47. The patent shall remain in force until the endofa 
period of20 years beginning on the date of the filing of 
the application that has resulted in the grant of the 
patent, subject to the provisions laid down in the 
Sections below. 
48.-(1) A patent shall lapse if the proprietor of the 
patent surrenders it. 
(2) Surrender shall be effected by means of an 
instrument entered in the public registers of the Patent 
Office and notified in the Journal specified in Section 
25. No entry shall be made as long as there are any 
persons who, by virtue of documents entered in the said 
registers, have acquired rights in the patent or in licenses 
thereunder or who have brought proceedings relating to 
the patent, and who have not consented to the 
surrender. 
49.-(1) A patent shall lapse ipso jure if the renewal 
fees referred to in Section 35 have not been paid within a 
period of six calendar months following the due date 
referred to in that Section. An entry shall be made of this 
lapse in the public registers of the Patent Office and shall 
be notified in the Journal referred to in Section 25. 
(2) Section 22D(3) shall apply mutatis mutandis. 
50. [Repealed] 
51.-(1) A patent shall be annulled insofar as: 
(a) it should not have been granted by virtue of the 
provisions of Section lA, 2, 2A, 3 or 5 or, where a 
European patent is concerned, by virtue of the provi­
sions of Articles 52 to 57 of the European Patent 
Convention; 
(b) the patent specification does not contain a 
description of the invention which is so clear and 
complete that an expert can work this invention; 
(e) the subject matter of the patent is not covered by 
the content of the flled patent application or by the 
content of the original patent application if the patent 
has been granted on a divisional application or on a new 
European patent application filed pursuant to Article 61 
of the European Patent Convention; 
(d) after the pUblication or after the grant of the 
pat~nt, extension of the scope of the protection has 
occurred; or JP IN 11INLD/P 12 
Page 27 
LAWS AND TREATIES 
(e) the proprietor of the patent was not entitled to it 
either by virtue ofthe provisions of Chapter I of this Act 
of the Kingdom or, where a EuroPean patent is 
concerned, by virtue of Article 60(1) of the European 
Patent Convention. 
(2) For the purposes of paragraph (l)(a), the state of 
the an referred to in Article 54(3) of the European 
Patent Convention shall also comprise the content of 
patent appucations filed under this Act of the Kingdom 
which were flled on a date prior to the date of filing of 
the European patent application to which that para­
graph applies and which were laid open to public 
inspection on or after that date pursuant to Section 22C 
or 25(2). 
(3) Annulment proceedings may be instituted under 
paragraph l(a) to (d) by any person and under (e) by a 
person who is entitled to the patent by virtue of the 
provisions specified there. If the latter person has been 
granted a patent for the relative invention, the 
annulment proceedings may also be instituted by 
licensees and lienors 
(4) The writ shall be entered in the public registers of 
the Patent Office within eight days from its date ofissue. 
Where the entry is not made in due time, the person who 
instituted the proceedings is obliged to pay compen­
sation for damages sustained by any persons who 
acquired, in good faith, after expiry ofthe time limit and 
prior to the making of the entry, rights affected by the 
annulment. 
(5) A patent shall be deemed not to have had., as 
from the outset, all or pan of the effects specified in 
Sections 30, 43A, 43B and 44A to the extent that the 
patent has been wholly or partially annulled. 
(6) The retroactive effect of the annulment shall not 
affect: 
(a) a decision relating to acts in contravention of the 
sole right of the proprietor of the patent referred to in 
Section 30 or relating to acts referred to in Sections 43A, 
43B and 44A which has acquired the authority ofa fmal 
decision and has been enforced prior to the 
annulment; 
(b) any contract concluded prior to the annulment 
insofar as it has been performed prior to the annulment; 
on grounds of equity repayment may be claimed of 
sums paid under the contract to the extent justified by 
the circumstances. 
(7) For the purposes of paragraph (6)(b); the 
conclusion ofa contract shall also be deemed to include 
a license originating in a different manner, as designated 
in Section 33(2), 34A or 34B. 
NL IP/N/I/NLD/P/2 
Page 28 
INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY -MAY 1989 
(8) Where a patent is annulled on the ground of 
paragraph (l)(e), and the person who is entitled to the 
patent by virtue of the provisions laid down in that part 
has obtained a patent for the relative invention himself, 
licenses acquired in good faith in respect ofthe annulled 
patent prior to the date on which the writ was registered 
shall continue to be valid vis-it-vis the subsisting patent, 
but the proprietor of the patent shall be entitled, in 
accordance with the provisions of Section 33(3), to the 
compensation payable for the licenses. The proprietor 
of the annulled patent who acted in good faith when 
filing his application or who obtained the patent in good 
faith from a previous proprietor prior to the date on 
which the writ was registered shall continue in that case 
in respect of the subsisting patent to have the right 
to work the invention in the manner specified in Sec­
tion 32. 
(9) As soon as a final decision in annulment 
proceedings has become defmitive or the proceedings 
have lapsed, an entry to this effect shall be made in the 
public registers of the Patent Office at the request of 
the most diligent party. A final and definitive annul­
ment shall be notified in the Journal referred to in Sec­
tion 25. 
52.-(1) Where a patent granted under this Act of 
the Kingdom relates to an invention in respect of which 
a European patent has been granted to the same 
inventor or his successor in title, and where the filing 
dates or, as the case may be, the priority dates of the 
patent applications concerned are the same, the former 
patent, insofar as it protects the same invention as the 
European patent, shall not continue to have the effects 
specified in Sections 30, 43A, and 44A in the Nether­
lands as from the date on which: 
(a) the time limit prescribed for giving notice of 
opposition to the European patent has expired without 
notice of opposition having been given; 
(b) the opposition procedure has been concluded, 
with the result being that the European patent has been 
maintained; or 
(e) the patent has been granted under this Act of the 
Kingdom, if that date is subsequent to the date referred 
to under (a) or (b), as the case may be. 
(2) Invalidation in lUlY way of the European patent 
at a later date shall not affect the provisions of the 
preceding paragraph. 
NL (3) The invalidation proceedings as referred to in 
paragraph (1) may be institued by any person. 
(4) Section 51(4), (8), first sentence, and (9) shall 
apply mutatis mutandis. LAWS AND TREATIES 
53.-(1) An action may be instituted claiming the 
right to a patent in whole, in part or in joint ownership 
by any person who, under Section 9, 10 or 11 or, where a 
European patent is concerned, under Article 60(1) of the 
European Patent Convention, is entitled or jointly 
entitled to the patent. 
(2) The writ with regard thereto shall be entered in 
the public registers of the Patent Office. 
(3) The proprietor of a patent who acted in good 
faith when filing his aplication or who obtained the 
patent in good faith from a previous proprietor, prior to 
the date on which the writ was registered, shall continue 
vis-it-vis the new proprietor to have the right to work 
the invention in the manner specified in Section 32. 
(4) Licenses obtained in good faith prior to the regis­
tration date shall continue to have effect vis-a-vis the 
new proprietor of the patent; the latter shall be entitled 
to compensation payable for licenses pursuant to the 
provisions of Section 33(3). 
(5) The provisions of paragraphs (3) and (4) shall not 
be applicable if the person who has successfully claimed 
rights to the patent had previously claimed rights by 
filing a patent application himself or by giving notice of 
opposition and the writ serving notice of the claim to the 
right had been entered in the public registers of the 
Patent Office within three months from the date on 
which the patent was granted or, where a European 
patent is concerned, from the date on which, pursuant to 
Article 97(4) of the European Patent Convention, the 
mention of the grant of the European patent was 
published. 
(6) Liens established by a previous proprietor of the 
patent shall only have eiTect vis-a-vis the new proprietor 
of the patent if they have been acquired in good faith 
and were established before the date on which the writ 
was registered. They shall have no effect vis-a.-vis the 
new proprietor in the case referred to in the preceding 
paragraph. 
(7) The action referred to in this Section shall be 
statute-barred at the expiration of a period offive years 
from the date on which the patent was granted or, where 
a European patent is concerned, from the date on which, 
pursuant to Article 97(4) of the European Patent 
Convention, the mention of the grant of the European 
patent was published; nevertheless, any person who 
knew or ought to have known when the patent was 
obtained that he or the person who assigned the patent 
to him was not entitled to the patent may not invoke 
such statute of limitation. Section 2013 of the Nether­
lands Civil Code shall apply to this limitation. INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY -MAY 1989 
(8) As soon as a final decision in respect of an action 
claiming a right has become definitive or the 
proceedings have lapsed. an entry to this effect shall be 
made in the public registers of the Patent Office at the 
request of the most diligent party. 
Chapter V 
Court Proceedings in Respect of 
Disputes Relating to Patents 
54.-( I) With regard to all actions for the annulment 
or invalidation of a patent or in respect of claiming a 
right to a patent referred to in Sections 51, 52 and 53, 
respectively, with regard to all actions in respect of 
claiming European patent applications, as well as with 
regard to all actions in respect of the awarding of a 
remuneration as referred to in Section 34(9), 34A(2) or 
34B(3), the District Court [Arrondissementsrechtbank} 
of The Hague shall have exclusive jurisdiction in the 
first instance 
(2) The District Court of The Hague and the Pres­
ident of that Court in summary judgment have 
exclusive jurisdiction in the first instance in the Nether­
lands with respect to all actions as referred to in Sections 
43, 43A, 43B and 44A as well as with respect to all 
actions instituted by some person other than the 
proprietor of the patent in order to obtain a decision that 
certain acts performed by him are not in contravention 
of a patent 
(3) With regard to all other matters, the ordinary 
provisions governing the administration of justice in 
force in the Netherlands shall apply. 
55.-(1) Any person who has requested the Patent 
Office to make an entry in a register of a document, 
provided it is not a patent application, may, if entry in 
the register is refused. address himself, by filing a 
request, to the Court referred to in the preceding 
Section. Any person who feels aggrieved as a result of 
the making of an entry in a register of a document, 
provided it is not a patent application, may also so 
act. 
(2) The court may, upon hearing the person who 
filed the request, the President of the Patent Office or his 
representative and, where the court deems it necessary, 
other interested persons, order an entry to be made or, 
in the latter case, pronounce that the entry shall have no 
effect in whole or in part, which pronouncement shall be 
notified in the register. IP 1Nl lINLDIP12 
Page 29 
LAWS AND TREATIES 
(3) Subpoenas summoning parties to appear shall be 
served by registered letter upon the persons designated 
by the court. The persons so summoned may cause 
themselves to be represented by a special represen­
tative, but the court may direct such persons to appear 
in person. The opinion of each of the persons who have 
appeared shall be notified in the records. In the event of 
the non-appearance of any or even all of the persons 
summoned, the court may render a judgment without a 
hearing. 
(4) The person who made the request, the President 
of the Patent Office and the interested persons 
summoned may lodge an appeal within 14 days from 
the date on which the judgment was given. The appeal 
may be lodged immediately 
56.-(1) All disputes other than those specified in 
the two preceding Sections shall be broUght before the 
court which has jurisdiction under the general rules 
governing the administration of justice. 
(2) Proceedings instituted under the provisions of 
Section 10(2) shall be deemed to be proceedings relating 
to a contract of employment. 
(3) Where it appears to the court that ajudgment on 
a contested matter may be affected by proceedings insti­
tuted or possibly to be instituted under Section 51, 52 or 
53, the court may stay the proceedings relating to the 
contested matter, with or without prescribing a time 
limit The court may also so act where a judgment 
relating to such proceedings may be affected by 
proceedings instituted on different grounds. 
~ 4) The court may stay proceedings relating to a 
dispute in respect ofa European patent, with or without 
prescribing a time limit, where notice has been given to 
the European Patent Office of opposition to that patent 
by virtue of Article 99 of the European Patent 
Convention. 
57.-(1) The Patent Office shall be required to 
provide the court with all the information and technical 
advice the court may require to reach a decision in 
respect of patent proceedings brought before it. 
(2) The advice provided by the Patent Office 
pursuant to the preceding paragraph shall have the same 
effect as advice given by experts, as referred to in 
Sections 222 to 236 of the Netherlands Code of Civil 
Procedure. has in the Netherlands 
57 A. A separate copy of all patent law judgments 
pronounced by a court shall be sent free of charge within 
NL IP/N/lINLD/PI2 
Page 30 
INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY -MAY 1989 
one month by the Clerk of the Court which has rendered 
the judgment to the Patent Office and, where a 
European patent is concerned, to the European Patent 
Office referred to in the European Patent 
Convention. 
Chapter VI 
Special Provisions for the 
Netherlands Antilles and Aruba 
58. An Industrial Property Bureau may be estab­
lished in the Netherlands Antilles and in Aruba. These 
Bureaus shall be institutions of those countries. 
59.-(\) Patent applications may be filed by appli­
cants having their residence in the Netherlands Antilles 
or Aruba at the Industrial Property Bureau established 
there. . 
(2) The date of filing at the Bureau concerned shall 
be considered to be the date of filing at the Patent 
Office. 
(3) Section 21 shall apply, provided that the fee 
payable pursuant to that Section shall be paid to the 
Bureau concerned. 
60. The Bureau concerned shall give effect to 
Section 22, provided that the date of receipt at the said 
Bureau shall be marked on the application as the date of 
filing. 
61.-(1) The Bureau concerned shall send the appli­
cation together with the relevant specification, drawings 
and models, annexing a copy of the receipt issued 
therefor, without delay following registration to the 
Patent Office, unless it appears to the said Bureau that 
any of the documents does not comply with the formal 
requirements prescribed by law. 
(2) In the latter case the alleged deficiencies in the 
application shall be notified in writing to the applicant 
by the Bureau concerned, which shall invite the 
applicant to remedy the deficiencies or supplement the 
application within such a period as the said Bureau shall 
specify. Upon expiration of that period the documents 
filed by the applicant, together with a copy of the receipt 
issued to him, shall be forwarded without delay by the 
Bureau to the Patent Office, irrespective of whether or 
not the above-mentioned invitation has been complied 
with. 
NL LAWS AND TREATIES 
62. The Patent Office shall upon receipt of the appli­
cation enter it in a register under a consecutive 
number. 
63.-(1) Any person having his residence in the 
Netherlands Antilles or Aruba may file requests, notices 
of opposition and notices of appeal underthis Act ofthe 
Kingdom at the Industrial Property Bureau established 
there. 
(2) That Bureau shall, without delay, give tele­
graphic notice of the filing of a request, notice of oppo­
sition or notice of appeal to the Patent Office and shall 
forward the document that has been filed to the Patent 
Office. 
64. [Repealed] 
Chapter VII 
Provisions in Respect of Entry 
into Force and Final Provisions 
65. [Repealed] 
66. {Repealed] 
67. {Repealed] 
68. {Repealed] 
69. - ( I) This Act of the Kingdom shall have binding 
effect for the whole Kingdom 
(2) It shall be cited as the "Patents Act of the 
Kingdom." 
70. [Repealed] 
71. The decision to repeal the common regulation 
provided for by this Act of the Kingdom may be 
proclaimed in the Netherlands by means of an Act and 
in the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba by means of a 
national enactment. As from the third calendar year 
following the year in which such an Act or enactment is 
promulgated, this Act of the Kingdom shall acquire the 
status of a statutory instrument in the Netherlands and 
as a national enactment in the Netherlands Antilles and 
Aruba.