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

defendants may include producers/manufacturers, suppliers,
distributors, importers, exporters, and retailers to purchasers and end
users. Furthermore, Dutch patent owners may claim the cease and
desist of services which intermediaries provide to third parties that
infringe the patent.
In the Netherlands, civil action is the most important remedy for
patent infringement. There are three types of civil proceedings
available under Dutch (patent) law: preliminary injunction
proceedings, proceedings on the merits, and accelerated proceedings
on the merits. The District Court The Hague has exclusive
jurisdiction in patent infringement and validity cases in the
Netherlands. As a consequence, the Court of Appeal of The Hague
has exclusive jurisdiction in patent (preliminary) appeal proceedings.
Both in preliminary proceedings and proceedings on the merits, the
losing party may, in addition to the damages, be ordered to pay for the
reasonable and proportional legal costs that the prevailing party
incurred, including attorney’s and patent agent’s fees.
Although Dutch Patent Law sets forth that intentional patent
infringement is subject to criminal proceedings, Dutch Prosecuting
Authorities rarely prosecute a patent infringement.
Apart from opposition proceedings before the Dutch Patent Authority,
there are no administrative actions available for patent infringement.
11.2 Copyright
The Dutch Copyright Act (DCA), adopted in 1912, the year the
Netherlands adhered to the Berne Convention, is one of the oldest
copyright laws in the world. Although the DCA was amended
numerous times, it was never completely revised and yet, due to its
flexible wording, is still up-to-date in the digital era.
The DCA is especially flexible in its definition of the rights granted
under copyright. Right holders enjoy two rights of exploitation, which
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