Information Technology in the
Netherlands
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Legal Environment |
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Piracy Issues
Regulation of the
Internet/Domain Name Issues
The government has taken a hands-off position to regulation of the Internet and lets the private Internet community regulate most aspects of the Internet themselves. The Netherlands is a member of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). The government refrains from enacting Internet legislation and relies on ICANN to settle disputes in this area.[3] Trademark In Europe, the general rule is that the first to register a mark is the owner of the mark, not the first to use the mark as in the US. There is a case in Holland where a private citizen registered the mark "EURO" in the category "bank notes." If this holds up, as is likely, the Dutch government will either have to buy this registration from the owner before they can print any EURO currency or pay a royalty for each new EURO note they print. This is an important issue that companies doing business in the Netherlands must investigate.[4] Patents The
Netherlands has legislation for the protection of patents, trademarks, and
industrial designs. It is a
member of the Paris Union, which adheres to the International Convention for
the Protection of Industrial Property. The Netherlands is a signatory to the
European Patent Convention, which provides for a centralized European-wide Patent
protection system. The European
Patents Act of 1977 provides increased legal protection, a patents court, and
guidelines for compensation of an inventor. The
European Patent Convention has simplified the process for obtaining patent
protection in the EU member states.
Under the European Convention, an applicant for a patent is granted a
pre-examined 15-year, nonrenewable European patent that has the effect of a
national patent in all 16 countries that are signatories of the convention,
based on a single application to the European Patent Office. However,
infringement proceedings remain within the jurisdiction of the national courts,
which could result in some divergent interpretations. Both
the Netherlands and the U.S. are signatories of the Universal Copyright
Convention, which provides for mutual copyright protection. [5] Copyright Copyright is another critical issue in the new information society where digital copies can be made with relative ease. The Netherlands is a member of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The WIPO is an agency created by the United Nations, which works to promote intellectual property protection worldwide. The Dutch government is very active in this organization and is a member of the many treaties on intellectual property that the WIPO enacts. [6] |
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Back to The
Information Technology Landscape in Nations page......
Last update:
December 18, 2000