Wednesday 20 July 2022

IP Dispute Resolution before the Netherlands Commercial Court

Amsterdam
Author Ank Kumar  Licence CC BY-SA 4.0   Source Wikimedia

 










Jane Lambert

The Netherlands Commercial Court is a chamber of the Amsterdam District Court which conducts proceedings and delivers judgments in English,  I discussed its formation in The Netherlands Commercial Court - an English Speaking Court in Amsterdam on 2 Aug 2020.

The Court publishes a bimonthly newsletter called NCC News Update.  A recent issue announced that several judges specializing in intellectual property law had joined the Court.  According to the fact sheet NCC and Intellectual Propertythose judges are:

  • Judge Diekman (Rotterdam District Court) 
  • Judge Van Heemstra (Gelderland District Court) 
  • Judge Loos (The Hague District Court) 
  • Judge Hofmeijer-Rutten (Rotterdam District Court and Amsterdam Court of Appeal) 
  • Judge Tjong Tjin Tai (sitting by designation) (Professor of Private Law at Tilburg University, specializing in IP and IT law), and
  • Judge Bernt Hugenholtz (sitting by designation) (Professor of IP Law at the University of Amsterdam).
The NCC cannot try patent infringement or validity claims because these are reserved for the Hague District Court as are plant variety and EU trade mark and Community design cases but it can hear everything else including licensing and other disputes arising relating to patents, plant varieties and EU trade mark and Community designs.   Its jurisdiction therefore covers copyright, Benelux trade marks and designs, rights in performances, trade secrets and unfair competition cases.   

This court could be a serious competitor to London in that costs are lower and its judgments can be enforced throughout Europe under the Brussels Recast Regulation (see NCC and other European commercial courts.   English lawyers lost their rights of audience when the UK left the European Union but judges will allow them occasionally to make written or oral submissions  (see FAQ  "Can a foreign lawyer speak in court").

Anyone wishing to discuss this article may call me during normal UK office hours on +44 (0)20 7404 5252 or send me a message through my contact page.

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