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Advice
By far the best solution would be to avoid legal proceedings, by investigating the rights that other parties may potentially have at an early stage. NL Patent Office possesses an enormous collection of patent publications that you can consult free of charge.If a party still accuses you of patent infringement, there are often other means by which a dispute can be resolved instead of taking the case to court. Many issues could already be resolved by consulting the patent holder. It might be possible to obtain a licence or to avoid infringement by making a minor adjustment to your product or process.
Validity of patents
There is one question that keeps recurring in discussions regarding infringement, namely, was the patent rightfully granted? If this is not the case, the judge can declare the patent void. NL Patent Office can be consulted in this regard. There are two situations in which the advice of NL Patent Office could play a role:
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You doubt the validity of someone else's patent, but you are not (yet) considering legal proceedings.
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You have decided to start legal proceedings yourself or a patent holder has accused you of infringement.
The advisory powers of NL Patent Office are laid down in the Patent Act 1995. Anyone (except the patent holder) may apply for advice with regard to the validity of a Dutch patent that has been granted for an application filed after 1 April 1995. NL Patent Office takes account of both the arguments of the requesting party and those of the patent holder in supplying its advice. This advice in relation to nullification is required in the event of nullification proceedings in court.
Are patents always examined?
Most patents are only granted once they have been examined against the criteria of novelty, the inventive step and industrial application. There are exceptions, however. European patents and patents in the Netherlands granted prior to 1995 were always examined. However, patents granted in the Netherlands after 1 April 1995 are not and in those cases, the filing of an application results in a patent being granted almost automatically. It is therefore not certain whether or not a granted patent actually relates to an invention.
Costs
The fee for an advisory report concerning the applicability of the grounds for nullification for a patent is 340 euro.
Further information
If you have any further questions, please contact the public information office by e-mailaddress This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or telephone number +31 88 602 60 00.
