Patents

Compared to other intellectual property rights, patent law is complex and is characterised by many legal and technical conditions.

Technical nature and solution
The national procedure for obtaining a patent has been settled in the Patent Act 1995. Briefly, it must be a demonstrable invention of a technical nature which could be seen as a solution for a problem. Furthermore, the level of inventiveness is tested, which means the innovative/deviating nature of the invention is screened.

Applicable
The invention must also be ‘applicable’, which means that the invention is tested by an expert on efficacy on the basis of a so-called patent specification. The efficacy must be translated into an industrial adoption.

Registration
When the patent is granted, it is advisable to state who is the actual inventor (for instance an employee), as the actual inventor is entitled to have his of her names registered as part of the patent registration.

The marketing of the patent is a distinct job. The entitled person/inventor could keep it to himself but could also sell and/or market it by means of licences.

When legal problems arise or need to be prevented, it will be absolutely necessary to call in the assistance of a lawyer. Depending on the nature of the dispute the lawyers of Fruytier Lawyers in Business can look after your interests or put you in contact with experts in this field.

Please contact Mr. M.N. van Hasselt via mvanhasselt@flib.nl or Mrs. N.Y. Wong via nwong@flib.nl for questions and/or advice about this subject.

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