(Inter)national patent applications

Patents are national rights. Each patent only provides protection in one single country. So basically protection must be requested wherever protection is desired. Nederlandsch Octrooibureau will be pleased to arrange both national and international applications on your behalf, so there is no need for you to contact the patent authorities yourself.

European patent

Thanks to the European Patent Convention, in Europe you only need to submit one patent application for several European countries, including the Netherlands. Once the European patent has been granted, rights will be arranged at national level. It is like receiving a collection of national patents, one patent for each European country of your choice.

International application

The worldwide Patent Cooperation Treaty, also known as PCT, provides the possibility to apply for a patent for most countries worldwide at the same time. Having followed the so-called PCT procedure, you will need to convert the international application into national applications. Your advisor at Nederlandsch Octrooibureau will be pleased to arrange matters for you.

Priority year

Submitting a first patent application for a country or region will automatically grant you the so-called priority right. This right will give you the possibility to apply for a patent for the same invention in several countries or regions using the same application date as the one stated on your first application. You will need to arrange matters within 12 months from submitting the first patent application. The priority year will give you, the inventor, the opportunity to work on your invention or production for another year before deciding on the countries in which you wish to be protected.