Patent law in the Netherlands

Patent law in the Netherlands, or simply Dutch patent law, is mainly governed by the Kingdom Patents Act (Dutch: Rijksoctrooiwet) 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 (Dutch: Octrooicentrum Nederland) (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.