Chapter 2

There is an office charged with the implementation of this Kingdom Act and other tasks imposed by or pursuant to law or binding international…

If the office is closed during the last day of any time limit to be observed by or against the office pursuant to this Kingdom Act, that time limit…

The Office shall act as a receiving Office within the meaning of Article 2(xv) of the Cooperation Treaty and shall perform its functions in that…

The designation or, where applicable, the choice of the Kingdom in an international application as referred to in Article 2(vii) of the Patent…

The office is responsible for a patent register from which the status of patent applications and patents can be derived and from which data may be…

All data entered in the patent register shall also be published in a periodical issued by the office.

From the time at which the patent application has been entered in the patent register, any person may inspect, free of charge, all documents relating…

Further rules shall be established by or pursuant to an Order in Council for the implementation of the provisions laid down by or pursuant to the…

If the applicant or the proprietor of a patent, or the proprietor of a European patent, has been unable to observe a time limit vis-à-vis the Office…

The office is responsible for a register of patent attorneys from which it can be determined who meets the requirements of professional competence…

Only persons who are registered as patent attorneys in the register referred to in Article 23a, persons who are registered as advocates with a court…

There is an examination board for the administration of the examination and the practical test, as referred to in Article 23a.

There is an Order of Patent Attorneys, which is composed of all those who are entered in the register referred to in Article 23a.

The general meeting of the order shall elect from among its members a board which is responsible for the day-to-day management of the order and which…

The general meeting of the order shall elect a supervisory board which assesses applications for entry into the register of patent attorneys, which…

Membership of the board is incompatible with membership or deputy membership of the supervisory board.

The general meeting of the order shall establish internal regulations and codes of conduct for patent attorneys.

The internal regulations, the code of conduct for patent attorneys and the by-laws, as well as any amendment thereof, shall, upon adoption, be…

The general meeting of the order shall adopt a budget for the following calendar year before 1 October of each year.

The general meeting of the order, the board of the order, the supervisory board and the examination board shall, upon request, provide Our Minister…

At least once a year, the professional organisation shall meet to discuss subjects that are of importance to patent attorneys.

A patent attorney who has been declared bankrupt, in respect of whom the natural persons debt restructuring scheme has been declared applicable, or…

A patent attorney who is guilty of any act or omission that is contrary to the care that he, as a patent attorney, ought to exercise towards those…

The supervisory board shall take into consideration an objection raised against a patent attorney upon a reasoned written complaint submitted to it.

The secretary of the supervisory board shall notify the patent attorney against whom a complaint has been filed of the objection in writing without…

The complainant may lodge a written objection with the supervisory board against the decision of the chair of the supervisory board to reject a…

If an objection concerns a member or deputy member of the supervisory board, the board shall suspend this member or deputy member from the right to…

The supervisory board shall not take a decision until after the patent attorney and the complainant or the chair of the board of the professional…

The supervisory board may hear witnesses and experts. They shall be summoned to that end by registered letter and are obliged to comply with the…

The supervisory board may impose one of the following measures upon the patent attorney, if it deems that an objection raised against the patent…

The decisions of the supervisory board shall be reasoned and pronounced in public. The board shall decide within six weeks after the investigation at…

An interested party may lodge an appeal against a decision of the supervisory board as referred to in Article 23u with the Court of Appeal of The…

A petition for revision of a decision of the supervisory board as referred to in Article 23u and of a decision of the court of appeal as referred to…

An interested party may lodge an objection with the examination board against a decision as referred to in Article 23c, paragraph 5, against a…

Within five years after the entry into force of Section 1a of Chapter 2 of this Act, and subsequently every four years, Our Minister shall submit a…

A patent application must be filed with the office and must:

The description of the invention shall be clear and complete and shall be drafted in such a manner that the invention can be understood by a person…

Each patent application may relate to only a single invention or to a group of inventions so linked as to form a single general inventive concept…

The applicant may divide an application already submitted by filing a separate application for a part of its contents. This application shall, except…

The date of submission of the petition shall be the date on which the following have been filed:

If the requirements laid down by or pursuant to Article 24 have not been met, the office shall notify the applicant thereof in writing within one…

The Office shall enter a patent application in the patent register as soon as possible after the expiration of eighteen months:

The applicant shall submit the petition to the office no later than thirteen months after:

A search of the state of the art as referred to in Article 32, paragraph 1, shall be conducted by the Office, where necessary with the involvement of…

If the office is of the opinion that the search into the state of the art cannot be carried out due to the lack of clarity of the application, the…

The Office shall grant the patent as soon as the patent application has been entered in the patent register, but not earlier than two months or, if…

Any person may notify the office in writing of information concerning a patent application or a patent granted thereon. The office shall communicate…

The withdrawal of a patent application registered in the patent register shall have no effect against third parties as long as no irrevocable…

If the Office is of the opinion that maintaining the secrecy of the contents of a patent application may be in the interest of the defence of the…

Within eight months after the filing of a patent application as referred to in Article 40, Our Minister of Defence shall decide whether the content…

The State shall grant the person, in respect of whose patent application Articles 40, 41 or 46 have been applied, upon his petition, compensation for…

If an applicant requests that the contents of a patent application be kept secret in the interest of the defence of another state, or if the…

In the event that Our Minister of Defence is of the opinion that the interest of the defence of the Kingdom requires that the State uses, applies, or…

If the State itself is the holder of a patent application and Our Minister of Defence notifies the office that the contents thereof must remain…

A European patent application, the content of which the applicant knows or should reasonably suspect must remain secret in the interest of the…

A European patent application which complies with the provisions of Article 80 of the European Patent Convention and which is deemed to be withdrawn…

The date on which the converted application was received by the office, as well as a serial number, shall be stated on the application. The office…