Doing Business in the Netherlands 2012 - American Chamber of ...

Doing Business in the Netherlands 2012
Applications for Dutch patents must be submitted to the Industrial
Property Office (Bureau voor de Industriële Eigendom) in Rijswijk,
the Netherlands. Although the description of the patent application
may be filed in English, the patent claims in the application have to be
submitted in Dutch.
European patent applications can be filed with the European Patent
Office in Munich, Germany, or with its subdivision in Rijswijk, the
Netherlands.
Where a prohibited act with respect to a patented invention is
commissioned without permission from the patent holder, this will
constitute a patent infringement.
The test for patent infringement boils down to the question whether
the infringing act (product/process) falls within the scope of the
invoked Dutch patent. Technically, this means that the patent claims
and specifications will need to be analyzed against the infringing act.
Furthermore, Dutch courts also tend to apply the “equivalence test,”
meaning that there will also be an infringement of a Dutch patent even
if the infringing product or process does not fall within the literal
scope of the patent claim(s), but can be considered to be “equivalent”
to the claimed invention.
Dutch patent law acknowledges the distinction between “direct” and
“indirect” infringement. Direct infringers commit acts which fall
within the scope of the patent, for example, by manufacturing a
product for which the patent claims protection. Indirect infringement
includes the supply of goods which “direct infringers” use to apply the
patented invention, for example, the supply of raw materials and
provision of drawings or recipes. In order to be held liable for patent
infringement, the “indirect infringer” should be aware or should have
been aware that the goods supplied were intended to be used in the
infringing products/process.
Under Dutch patent law, any person or entity engaging in an
infringing act can be held liable for patent infringement. Potential
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