About the Institute

The Netherlands Institute of Patent Attorneys (Nederlandse Orde van Octrooigemachtigden) is the professional organisation of all patent attorneys in the Netherlands. The Institute guarantees that its members are professional and client-oriented, and are integer in doing their work, which is advising and supporting inventors in obtaining protection for their technical inventions. In that way, the Institute stimulates innovation in the Netherlands.

What does the Institute do?

• The Institute guarantees the professional level of the patent attorneys and therefore the proper representation of clients’ interests, by means of its rules of conduct, by its Supervisory Board and by ensuring an effective training and continuous professional development for patent attorneys.
• The Institute also supports proposals to increase the accessibility of the patent system.
• The Institute advises the government authorities on issues of patent legislation and participates in national and international discussions regarding legislation and regulations in the area of intellectual property, in particular of patents.
• The Institute publishes a list of all registered patent attorneys in the Netherlands and keeps it up to date.
• The Institute communicates about the profession to external parties.
• For its members, the Institute organises meetings to exchange work experience and to stimulate the development of expertise, and represents their interests.

The Institute achieves this by involving many patent attorneys in these tasks and objectives.

Supervisory Board

The Institute has set up a Supervisory Board which checks whether the members of the Institute comply with the rules of conduct and which handles complaints of other parties about patent attorneys. The Supervisory Board has the authority to impose sanctions, varying from a warning or reprimand to the suspension or expulsion of a patent attorney from the profession.

Organisation

The Institute has an elected Executive Board. In addition, there are various committees involved in stimulating the development of expertise, legislation, PR and information on the profession.

Expectations for the future

The pace of technological developments is increasing continuously, markets are becoming globalised and an increasing number of people is realizing how important it is to stimulate innovation. The Institute therefore expects that the need for good advice and support in the field of patents will grow, also amongst clients located abroad, especially since one of the EPO offices is located in Rijswijk. The profession is also broadening, due to the fact that clients want their patent attorneys to be involved in an early stage of R&D and to provide solutions that improve business and economics and are in accordance with the legal requirements that apply.