NL Patent Office

Patent databases and registers

Every innovation should start with a (patent) search, as innovation requires you to be well-informed of technological developments that already exist. The majority of these developments are described in patents.

By studying patent literature, surprising information can therefore be gleaned. NL Patent Office provides a number of technical and legal databases free of charge.

Difference in databases and registers
There is a major difference between patent databases and patent registers. If you want to know whether your invention is a new one, you should search in the patent databases. If you want to know whether a patent is still valid, you should look in the registers.

Static and dynamic
The complete patent documents can be found in the patent databases. These are often documents such as those filed by the applicant and often they also include a search report. Amendments to the patent procedure, such as opposition against the patent, the sale or expiry of the patent are often not stated in the databases. This is therefore more static information.

The status of patents is stated in the patent registers. A patent hopefully proceeds from the application status to the granted status. In the meantime, opposition can be registered against the patent. The owner of the patent may change. This information can be found in the registers. Registers therefore provide dynamic information.

• Explanation and overview of (inter)national databases
• Explanation and overview of (inter)national registers