7.1 National and international IP offices

7.2 Additional information

7.3 Interesting publications from the WIPO

7.4 IP databases

7.5 The patent classification schemes

9.1 Parts of the Dutch patent law, Rijksoctrooiwet 1995 (in Dutch)

These are some of the most relevant parts of Dutch patent law (ROW).

• Artikel 53
  1. Een octrooi geeft de octrooihouder, behoudens de bepalingen van de artikelen 53a tot en met 60, het uitsluitend recht:
     1. het geoctrooieerde voortbrengsel in of voor zijn bedrijf te vervaardigen, te gebruiken, in het verkeer te brengen of verder te verkopen, te verhuren, af te leveren of anderszins te verhandelen, dan wel voor een of ander aan te bieden, in te voeren of in voorraad te hebben;
     2. de geoctrooieerde werkwijze in of voor zijn bedrijf toe te passen of het voortbrengsel, dat rechtstreeks verkregen is door toepassing van die werkwijze, in of voor zijn bedrijf te gebruiken, in het verkeer te brengen of verder te verkopen, te verhuren, af te leveren of anderszins te verhandelen, dan wel voor een of ander aan te bieden, in te voeren of in voorraad te hebben.
  2. Het uitsluitend recht wordt bepaald door de conclusies van het octrooischrift, waarbij de beschrijving en de tekeningen dienen tot uitleg van die conclusies.
  3. Het uitsluitend recht strekt zich niet uit over handelingen, uitsluitend dienende tot onderzoek van het geoctrooieerde, daaronder begrepen het door toepassing van de geoctrooieerde werkwijze rechtstreeks verkregen voortbrengsel. Het uitsluitend recht strekt zich evenmin uit tot de bereiding voor direct gebruik ten behoeve van individuele gevallen op medisch voorschrift van geneesmiddelen in apotheken, noch tot handelingen betreffende de aldus bereide geneesmiddelen.
  4. Het uitvoeren van de noodzakelijke studies, tests en proeven met het oog op de toepassing van artikel 10, eerste tot en met vierde lid, van Richtlijn 2001/83/EG tot vaststelling van een communautair wetboek betreffende geneesmiddelen voor menselijk gebruik (PbEG L 311) of artikel 13, eerste tot en met het vijfde lid van Richtlijn 2001/82/EG tot vaststelling van een communautair wetboek betreffende geneesmiddelen voor diergeneeskundig gebruik (PbEG L 311) en de daaruit voortvloeiende praktische vereisten worden niet beschouwd als een inbreuk op octrooien met betrekking tot geneesmiddelen voor menselijk gebruik, respectievelijk geneesmiddelen voor diergeneeskundig gebruik.
  5. Is een voortbrengsel als in het eerste lid, onder a of b, bedoeld, in Nederland, Curaçao of Sint Maarten rechtmatig in het verkeer gebracht, dan wel door de octrooihouder of met diens toestemming in één der Lid-Staten van de Europese Gemeenschap of in een andere staat die partij is bij de Overeenkomst betreffende de Europese Economische Ruimte in het verkeer gebracht, dan handelt de verkrijger of latere houder niet in strijd met het octrooi, door dit voortbrengsel in of voor zijn bedrijf te gebruiken, te verkopen, te verhuren, af te leveren of anderszins te verhandelen, dan wel voor een of ander aan te bieden, in te voeren of in voorraad te hebben.
  6. Een voortbrengsel als in het eerste lid, onder a of b, bedoeld, dat voor de verlening van het octrooi, of, indien het een Europees octrooi betreft, voor de dag, waarop overeenkomstig artikel 97, derde lid, van het Europees Octrooiverdrag de vermelding van de verlening van het Europees octrooi is gepubliceerd, in een bedrijf is vervaardigd, mag niettegenstaande het octrooi ten dienste van dat bedrijf worden gebruikt.

9.2 Parts of the European Patent Convention

These are some of the most relevant parts of patent law in the European Patent Convention (EPC).

• Article 52. Patentable inventions

  1. European patents shall be granted for any inventions, in all fields of technology, provided that they are new, involve an inventive step and are susceptible of industrial application.
  2. The following in particular shall not be regarded as inventions within the meaning of paragraph 1:
     1. discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods;
     2. aesthetic creations;
     3. schemes, rules and methods for performing mental acts, playing games or doing business, and programs for computers;
     4. presentations of information.
  3. Paragraph 2 shall exclude the patentability of the subject-matter or activities referred to therein only to the extent to which a European patent application or European patent relates to such subject-matter or activities as such.

• Article 54. Novelty

  1. An invention shall be considered to be new if it does not form part of the state of the art.
  2. The state of the art shall be held to comprise everything made available to the public by means of a written or oral description, by use, or in any other way, before the date of filing of the European patent application.
  3. Additionally, the content of European patent applications as filed, the dates of filing of which are prior to the date referred to in paragraph 2 and which were published on or after that date, shall be considered as comprised in the state of the art.
  4. Paragraphs 2 and 3 shall not exclude the patentability of any substance or composition, comprised in the state of the art, for use in a method referred to in Article 53(c), provided that its use for any such method is not comprised in the state of the art.
  5. Paragraphs 2 and 3 shall also not exclude the patentability of any substance or composition referred to in paragraph 4 for any specific use in a method referred to in Article 53(c), provided that such use is not comprised in the state of the art.

• Article 56. Inventive step

  An invention shall be considered as involving an inventive step if, having regard to the state of the art, it is not obvious to a person skilled in the art. If the state of the art also includes documents within the meaning of Article 54, paragraph 3, these documents shall not be considered in deciding whether there has been an inventive step.

• Article 83. Disclosure of the invention

  The European patent application shall disclose the invention in a manner sufficiently clear and complete for it to be carried out by a person skilled in the art.

• Article 84. Claims

  The claims shall define the matter for which protection is sought. They shall be clear and concise and be supported by the description.

• Article 87. Priority right

  1. Any person who has duly filed, in or for
     1. any State party to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property or
     2. any Member of the World Trade Organization,
     an application for a patent, a utility model or a utility certificate, or his successor in title, shall enjoy, for the purpose of filing a European patent application in respect of the same invention, a right of priority during a period of twelve months from the date of filing of the first application.
  2. Every filing that is equivalent to a regular national filing under the national law of the State where it was made or under bilateral or multilateral agreements, including this Convention, shall be recognised as giving rise to a right of priority.
  3. A regular national filing shall mean any filing that is sufficient to establish the date on which the application was filed, whatever the outcome of the application may be.
  4. A subsequent application in respect of the same subject-matter as a previous first application and filed in or for the same State shall be considered as the first application for the purposes of determining priority, provided that, at the date of filing the subsequent application, the previous application has been withdrawn, abandoned or refused, without being open to public inspection and without leaving any rights outstanding, and has not served as a basis for claiming a right of priority. The previous application may not thereafter serve as a basis for claiming a right of priority.
  5. If the first filing has been made with an industrial property authority which is not subject to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property or the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, paragraphs 1 to 4 shall apply if that authority, according to a communication issued by the President of the European Patent Office, recognises that a first filing made with the European Patent Office gives rise to a right of priority under conditions and with effects equivalent to those laid down in the Paris Convention.

• Article 88. Claiming priority

  1. An applicant desiring to take advantage of the priority of a previous application shall file a declaration of priority and any other document required, in accordance with the Implementing Regulations.
  2. Multiple priorities may be claimed in respect of a European patent application, notwithstanding the fact that they originated in different countries. Where appropriate, multiple priorities may be claimed for any one claim. Where multiple priorities are claimed, time limits which run from the date of priority shall run from the earliest date of priority.
  3. If one or more priorities are claimed in respect of a European patent application, the right of priority shall cover only those elements of the European patent application which are included in the application or applications whose priority is claimed.
  4. If certain elements of the invention for which priority is claimed do not appear among the claims formulated in the previous application, priority may nonetheless be granted, provided that the documents of the previous application as a whole specifically disclose such elements.

• Article 89. Effect of priority right

  The right of priority shall have the effect that the date of priority shall count as the date of filing of the European patent application for the purposes of Article 54, paragraphs 2 and 3, and Article 60, paragraph 2.

9.3 Parts of the Patent Cooperation Treaty

These are some of the most relevant parts of Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

• Article 5. The Description

  The description shall disclose the invention in a manner sufficiently clear and complete for the invention to be carried out by a person skilled in the art.

• Article 6. The Claims

  The claim or claims shall define the matter for which protection is sought. Claims shall be clear and concise. They shall be fully supported by the description.

• Article 8. Claiming Priority

  1. The international application may contain a declaration, as prescribed in the Regulations, claiming the priority of one or more earlier applications filed in or for any country party to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.
  2. 1. Subject to the provisions of subparagraph (b), the conditions for, and the effect of, any priority claim declared under paragraph (1) shall be as provided in Article 4 of the Stockholm Act of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property
     2. The international application for which the priority of one or more earlier applications filed in or for a Contracting State is claimed may contain the designation of that State. Where, in the international application, the priority of one or more national applications filed in or for a designated State is claimed, or where the priority of an international application having designated only one State is claimed, the conditions for, and the effect of, the priority claim in that State shall be governed by the national law of that State.

• Article 33. The International Preliminary Examination

  1. The objective of the international preliminary examination is to formulate a preliminary and non-binding opinion on the questions whether the claimed invention appears to be novel, to involve an inventive step (to be non-obvious), and to be industrially applicable.
  2. For the purposes of the international preliminary examination, a claimed invention shall be considered novel if it is not anticipated by the prior art as defined in the Regulations.
  3. For the purposes of the international preliminary examination, a claimed invention shall be considered to involve an inventive step if, having regard to the prior art as defined in the Regulations, it is not, at the prescribed relevant date, obvious to a person skilled in the art.
  4. For the purposes of the international preliminary examination, a claimed invention shall be considered industrially applicable if, according to its nature, it can be made or used (in the technological sense) in any kind of industry. “Industry” shall be understood in its broadest sense, as in the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.
  5. The criteria described above merely serve the purposes of international preliminary examination. Any Contracting State may apply additional or different criteria for the purpose of deciding whether, in that State, the claimed invention is patentable or not.
  6. The international preliminary examination shall take into consideration all the documents cited in the international search report. It may take into consideration any additional documents considered to be relevant in the particular case.

• Rule 64. Prior Art for International Preliminary Examination

  64.1 Prior Art

  1. For the purposes of Article 33(2) and (3), everything made available to the public anywhere in the world by means of written disclosure (including drawings and other illustrations) shall be considered prior art provided that such making available occurred prior to the relevant date.
  2. For the purposes of paragraph (a), the relevant date shall be:
     1. subject to item (ii) and (iii), the international filing date of the international application under international preliminary examination;
     2. where the international application under international preliminary examination claims the priority of an earlier application and has an international filing date which is within the priority period, the filing date of such earlier application, unless the International Preliminary Examining Authority considers that the priority claim is not valid;
     3. where the international application under international preliminary examination claims the priority of an earlier application and has an international filing date which is later than the date on which the priority period expired but within the period of two months from that date, the filing date of such earlier application, unless the International Preliminary Examining Authority considers that the priority claim is not valid for reasons other than the fact that the international application has an international filing date which is later than the date on which the priority period expired.

  64.2 Non-Written Disclosures

  In cases where the making available to the public occurred by means of an oral disclosure, use, exhibition or other non-written means (“non-written disclosure”) before the relevant date as defined in Rule 64.1(b) and the date of such non-written disclosure is indicated in a written disclosure which has been made available to the public on a date which is the same as, or later than, the relevant date, the non-written disclosure shall not be considered part of the prior art for the purposes of Article 33(2) and (3). Nevertheless, the international preliminary examination report shall call attention to such non-written disclosure in the manner provided for in Rule 70.9.

  64.3 Certain Published Documents

  In cases where any application or any patent which would constitute prior art for the purposes of Article 33(2) and (3) had it been published prior to the relevant date referred to in Rule 64.1 was published on a date which is the same as, or later than, the relevant date but was filed earlier than the relevant date or claimed the priority of an earlier application which had been filed prior to the relevant date, such published application or patent shall not be considered part of the prior art for the purposes of Article 33(2) and (3). Nevertheless, the international preliminary examination report shall call attention to such application or patent in the manner provided for in Rule 70.10.

10.1 WO 9700326A1

WO 9700326A1

10.2 WO 94/28152

WO 94/28152