NL Patent Office

Patent Act 1995

Patent protection in the Netherlands is since 1 September 2004 regulated by law in the Dutch Patent Act 1995, which came into force 1 April 1995. Until that time the Patent Act 1910 was in force. The Dutch Patent Act 1995 and Implementation Decree 1995 have undergone a review per 5 June 2008. Previous evaluations of the Act have shown that the current system for patent holders, including amendments, is a valuable addition to the European patenting system.

The intended amendments to the Dutch system mean that the six-year patent has been discontinued and, from now on, patent applications may be filed in English. In addition, a number of fees have undergone radical changes.

Phase-out of six-year patent
A six-year patent was generally granted without prior examination. This type of patent is being phased out, however, because the users feel that it offers too little legal security. This means that patent applicants will, in all cases, have to request a search into the state of the art within thirteen months following your patent application. All applicants will then be granted a twenty-year patent, including a search report and a written opinion. As a result of this, both the applicant and third parties are in a better position to make an estimate of the value of the patent granted.

Apply in English
It is possible to file the description of a patent application in English. The claims of the patent application must however still be filed in Dutch. The Dutch claims are intended to make it easier for people to familiarise themselves with the content of the patents. If, within one year, an inventor continues his or her patent application in an international, English-language patenting procedure, he or she will therefore make a significant saving with regard to the translation costs. After all, he or she will no longer need to have the entire application translated from Dutch into English.

Changes to various fees

1. Online filing / changes to filing fees
   The cost for filing a patent application online, rather than on paper, will be 80 euro. Applicants have been able to file patents electronically for some time now; however this discount is intended to encourage electronic filing. The fee for filing a patent application on paper is currently 120 euro.
2. Reduction of search fees
   The fee in respect of a search into the state of the art that is restricted to the Netherlands is
   reduced from 340 euro to 100 euro. This compensates for the increase in costs that will be encountered by those used to apply for six-year patents. After all, they now also have to request for a novelty search. The fee for an international search will remain at 794 euro.
3. Shortening of charge-free period
   The charge-free period is shortened from four years to three. As a result of this, patent holders will be encouraged to decide at an earlier date whether they wish to maintain their patent. Once a patent has been granted, maintenance fees must be paid in order to maintain the patent. A four-year charge-free period applies however, counted from the date on which the patent was filed. If a patent is granted within the charge-free period, a maintenance fee only has to be paid once this period has elapsed.
4. Changes to maintenance fees
   The amounts of the maintenance fees to be paid have been changed radically. This is due to the fact that not only the amounts are being adjusted, but also a new calculation basis has been introduced. As a result of this, the Netherlands now has the same system of fees as Germany, France and the United Kingdom. All patent holders will now commence by paying the same, base maintenance fee, regardless of whether the patent was within the charge-free period or at a later date. The amount of this fee is therefore now determined by the number of years that have passed since the time at which a maintenance fee first became payable. In the new system, the amount of the maintenance fee is calculated based on the number of years that have passed since the patent application was filed.

By way of illustration
In the eighth year following the application, all patent holders will soon pay the same maintenance fee, regardless of whether the patent in question was granted after eighteen months or after five years. In the past, a patent holder would pay a higher amount in the first instance than in the latter. The maintenance fees are lower in the first few years. With effect from the tenth year, the fees become higher to prevent patent holders from maintaining their patent unnecessarily. Please consult the Government Gazette for the most recent changes.

Information
For further information about these amendments, you can contact the public information office by e-mail address This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or telephone number +31 88 602 60 00.