Aligned legislation for your project
Intellectual property
The Netherlands is one of the top 10 countries in terms of protecting property rights and intellectual property.
The Dutch Patent Act 1995 (Rijksoctrooiwet 1995) has been harmonised with the provisions of the European Patent Convention (EPC) and the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). It contains extensive statutory regulations governing exclusive rights for the designer/inventor of a new product or process.
Environmental law
The general legal framework for business premises is contained in the Dutch Spatial Planning Act (Wet op Ruimtelijke Ordening).
All permit requirements, including exemptions from a zoning plan, are governed by the Dutch Environment and Planning Act (Omgevingswet). Previously, anyone who wanted to set up or expand an industrial facility needed a whole lot of different permits and exemptions. This new Environment and Planning Act means that you only need one permit (known as an environmental permit). In most cases, the local authority is the competent authority. This main rule has a limited number of exceptions for larger organisations or industrial facilities which operate at provincial or national level, where the province or national government is the competent authority.
