NL Patent Office

Application and costs

Applications for chips rights can be filed with NL Patent Office. You will then receive a registration certificate. The application registration is then stated in the Hoofdblad publication of NL Patent Office.

In addition to submitting a copy of the semi-conductor product, you must also submit:

• The application form
• The payment form
• The drawing(s) of the topography

The filing offers protection for:

• Ten years, calculated after the filing or initial exploitation, whichever is earliest
• Fifteen years, following creation of the topography if the application has not yet been filed or exploited

Missing details
If the applicant does not comply with the formal requirements, NL Patent Office will send him/her a missing details form to complete. In doing so, NL Patent Office states the deadline by which the applicant must have completed the form (i.e. sixty days after the date of the missing details form).

Lapse of the application
The application will lapse in the event that:

• The application is cancelled by the holder
• An application is not filed within two years after exploitation
• The protection period has expired

Fees
An application for chips rights costs 79 euro. It is not necessary to pay any maintenance fees, as is necessary in patent law.