Patents of Invention and Industrial Designs

Legal Basis

– Patents Act for the Kingdom of April 1, 1995, as amended.
– Patent Rules of 1995.
– Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs, London Act 1934 (Treaty Gazette 1948, No. I 539, see also Treaty Gazette 1974, No. 64), Geneva Act 1999 (soon).

On April 1, 1995 The Netherlands Patents Act (“Patents Act for the Kingdom of 1995”) came into force. This Act binds Curaçao, with the exception of Chapter 7 relating to Supplementary Protection Certificates. A patent that is granted under this Law has validation in the Netherlands, as well as in the (former) Netherlands Antilles, and since October 10, 2010 also in Curaçao.

Patent applications are administered in the Netherlands at the Patent Center in The Hague. The patent right is granted to the patentee by the government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. In accordance with the provisions made in Article 100, paragraph 1 of the Patents Act for the Kingdom of 1995, patent applications can be filed with the Bureau for Intellectual Property Curaçao (BIP). (Industrial designs: not yet registrable in Curaçao.)

The application process: the application form must be completed in the Dutch language. However, since June 5, 2008, it is also possible to file the description of the patent application in the English language. The conclusions of the patent application must still be filed in Dutch. A patent application in Curaçao should be filed with the Bureau for Intellectual Property Curaçao (BIP).

Filing requirements (to be sent to resident agent for filing an application):
1. The name and the address of the applicant;
2. The name and the residence of the person who has made the invention, unless the latter, as evidenced by a written statement annexed to the application, does not wish to be mentioned as the inventor in the patent;
3. A request for a patent to be granted;
4. A brief indication of the object of the invention;
5. A description of the invention, closing with one or more conclusions, and a description of the object for which an exclusive right is applied for;
6. An excerpt of the description;
7. If necessary, some drawings to illustrate the invention.

Granting: after receiving the application form, BIP Curaçao will send it to the Dutch authorities in the Netherlands responsible for the further administration and registration of the invention. At the end of the process, if everything is completed correctly, BIP Curaçao will receive a patent certificate that indicates that the patent is granted.

Duration: the possibility for a six-year patent no longer exists because of a change in the Law, which came into force on June 5, 2008. The reason for this is that it was believed to offer too little legal security on the validity of the patent. Consequently, all patent applicants now have to request a novelty investigation within thirteen months after the date of application. A patent with a duration of twenty years is the only remaining possibility for patent applicants.

For further information on the registration and maintenance of a patent, please see the article on The Netherlands.