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Doing business in the Netherlands 13Foreign companies doing business in theNetherlands or preparing operations in theNetherlands equally enjoy trade name protection.The Benelux Convention on Intellectual Propertyregulates the uniform provisions regarding the registration,use and protection of trademarks, designsand models in the Netherlands, Belgium andLuxembourg.Trademarks can be names, drawings, stamps, letters,numbers, shapes of goods or packages and all othersigns used to distinguish the goods of one companyfrom those of others. A registered trademark is protectedfor a period of 10 years from the registrationdate and the protection can be extended by a further10 years. Renewal must be requested and all duefees paid. The rightful owner is entitled to claimdamages for infringement of its rights (such as theuse of the trademark by another party).A design or model is the new appearance of a utilityproduct. A registered model or design is protectedfor 5 years from the registration date onwards andthe protection can be extended by 4 periods of 5years each, up to a maximum of 25 years. Renewalwill be effective upon timely settlement of all feesdue. The rightful owner is entitled to claim damagesfor any infringement of its rights (such as the use ofthe model or design by another party).European Regulation 40/94 on the Community trademarkintroduces a system for the award ofCommunity trademarks by the Office forHarmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM). TheCommunity trademark system of the EuropeanUnion enables the uniform identification of productsand services of enterprises throughout theEuropean Union. Requiring no more than a singleapplication to OHIM, the Community trademark hasa unitary character in the sense that it produces thesame effects throughout the Community. TheCommunity trademark contains provisions concerningthe registration and use of Community trademarksby (legal) persons and the protection of therightful owners of such Community trademarks.3 years from the moment that the design was madepublic in the European Union for the first time, or as aregistered design in which case the applicationneeds to be filed with the OHIM and shall be protectedfor a period of up to 25 years.Like many countries, the Netherlands lack specificlegislation with respect to domain names. There is,however, ample case law offering protection to trademarkand trade name owners (and even individualsnames) in case a third party registers or uses adomain name, which is identical or confusingly similarto the rights invoked by the owner. The Dutch toplevel domain .nl is one of the most popular countrycode top level domains in the world, and the namingauthority SIDN offers efficient online dispute resolutionpursuant a dispute resolution policy regimeadministered by the WIPO. As part of the procedure,SIDN offers free of charge mediation in case the .nldomain name holder files a response, resulting inmany disputed which are resolved in an amicably way.The Copyright Act (Auteurswet) contains provisionsregarding the protection of copyrights. Copyrightdoes not require registration in the Netherlands andapplies (amongst other things) to literature, dramatic,musical and artistic work, sound recordings,films and computer programs. A copyright expires 70years after the author’s death. Closely linked to theCopyright Act is the Neighbouring Rights Act (Wet opde Naburige Rechten) which offers a 50 years protectionto performing artists, producers of phonogramsand broadcasting organisations.Likewise, European Regulation 6/2002 on theCommunity design offers a single right for theEuropean Union with respect to models and designs.Novel models and design can be either protected asunregistered designs, in which case the protection is