Patent law in the Netherlands
Patent law in the Netherlands, or simply Dutch patent law, is mainly governed by the Kingdom Patents Act () and the European Patent Convention. A patent covering the Netherlands can be obtained through three different routes: through the direct filing of a national patent application with the Netherlands Patent Office () (direct national route), through the filing of a European patent application (European route), or through the filing of an international application under the Patent Cooperation Treaty followed by the entry into European phase of said international application (Euro-PCT route). The Dutch patent has a term of 20 years and has effect in the (European and Caribbean) Netherlands, Curaçao and Sint Maarten. Aruba has its own patent system. Dutch patent National patents applied for directly with Netherlands Patent Office are so-called ‘registration patents’ (): no substantial examination takes place, and the patent is granted if certain formalities have been fulfilled. European patents designating the Netherlands have the same effect as direct national patents, provided that the patent description is translated in English (if not already in English) and the claims in Dutch (The Netherlands has ratified the London Agreement (2000)). Also unitary patents apply in the Netherlands after entry into