Agentschap NL - Ministerie van Economische Zaken

NL Patent Office

Requirements

In order to apply for an international patent, your technical invention must fulfil three material conditions.

A technical invention is understood to mean a product or operating procedure in any technological field. The material conditions are:
  • Novelty
    The product or process may not have been made public anywhere in the world before the date of submitting the patent application, not even through the activities of the inventor himself (e.g. by means of a company brochure or a presentation at a trade fair).

  • Inventive step
    The invention may not be obvious to a professional.

  • Industrial application
    The invention must relate to a technically demonstrable functioning product or production process.
Services, natural scientific theories, calculation methods, undeveloped ideas and aesthetic designs cannot be protected by patent. Other forms of protection can be used for these, such as copyright, design and model rights or trademark rights.

In contrast to a patent applied for in the Netherlands, a PCT application is always examined against the requirements of novelty, the inventive step and industrial application.

Requirements for the application form
In addition to the material conditions, the following requirements have been set with regard to the application form:
  • The title must be in English and correspond to the title above the description.
  • The application field must have been completed as fully as possible (including country of origin and country of residence).
  • If applicable: the field for the address of the attorney or for correspondence must be completed in full.
  • In the event that the right of priority is invoked: the right of priority must be invoked within sixteen months following the application in relation to which this right is invoked.
  • The application must be signed by the applicant/attorney, stating his/her name.
  • NL Patent Office must have received payment within one month following receipt of the application. If a deposit account is being used, the payment form must be signed and be in possession of NL Patent Office.
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