Please give details of the major acts and directives governing patents in the Netherlands.
- Rijksoctrooiwet (Patent Act) 1995, as amended 5 June 2008;
- Patents Act Implementation Decree 1995, as amended 5 June 2008.
Under the June 2008 amendments the six-year patent has been discontinued and is in the process of being phased out as it was felt that it did not offer enough legal security and, in general, was granted without prior examination...
