Art. 2.-1. Inventions that are new, that involve an inventive step and that are susceptible of industrial application shall be patentable.

2. The following inventions shall not be regarded as inventions within the meaning of the first paragraph:

a. discoveries, as well as scientific theories and mathematical methods;

b. aesthetic creations;

c. schemes, rules and methods for performing mental acts, playing games or doing business, as well as computer programs;

d. presentations of information.

3. The second paragraph applies only insofar as it concerns the subject matter or activities referred to as such.

Art. 3. No patent shall be issued for: a. inventions the publication or exploitation of which would be contrary to public order or morality;

b. plant or animal varieties, or essentially biological processes for the production of plants or animals and the products thereof, with the exception of microbiological processes unless these are prohibited by or pursuant to the Act on Health and Welfare of Animals.

Chapter 4
Legal Effects of the Patent

Part 1
Rights and Obligations of the Patent Proprietor

Art.57.-1. The Minister may, if he considers it in the public interest, grant a license under a patent, the contents of which shall be described precisely by him, to a person designated by him. Before giving his decision the Minister shall, unless this is incompatible with the urgency of the matter, ascertain whether the proprietor of the patent is

willing to grant the license voluntarily and on reasonable terms. To this end, he shall give the patent proprietor an opportunity to express his sentiments on the matter in writing and, at his request, also orally. The decision shall be accompanied by a statement of reason and shall be posted or hand-delivered to the proprietor of the patent and the licensee. In his decision, the Minister may impose upon the licensee the obligation to provide security within a certain time limit. The lodging of an appeal as referred to in Article 81 shall have staying effect, unless the decision of the Minister provides otherwise in view of the urgency of the matter.

2. If, after three years have elapsed since the grant of the patent, neither the proprietor of the patent nor any other person who has been granted a license operates an industrial establishment in the Kingdom or in another State to be designated by administrative order in which the product concerned is being made or where the process concerned is being applied in good faith and on a sufficient scale, the patent proprietor shall be obliged to grant the license needed for operating such an establishment unless valid reasons are shown to exist for the absence of such an establishment. This obligation shall be effective against the proprietor of a European patent if, after three years have elapsed since the date on which the mention of the grant of the European patent was published in accordance with Article 97(4) of the European Patent Convention, an industrial establishment as referred to above is not in operation in the Netherlands or in another State to be designated by administrative order.

3. Paragraph (2) shall not apply if the patent proprietor or any other person who has been granted a license has an industrial establishment in operation in that part of the continental shelf contiguous to the Netherlands or Netherlands Antilles, or, where a European patent is concerned, contiguous to the Netherlands in which the Kingdom has sovereign rights, in which those acts referred to in that paragraph are performed in good faith and on a sufficient scale, provided that such acts are associated with and performed during the exploration for or recovery of natural resources.

4. The patent proprietor shall be obliged at any time to grant a license required for the working of a patent granted in respect of an application which has the same or a later date of filing or, where a right of priority exists for the application, the same or later priority date, insofar as the patent for which the license is requested represents a considerable advance; the patent proprietor shall, however, only be obliged to grant a license required for the working of a European patent after the time limit for filing an opposition to the European patent has expired or after opposition proceedings thus instituted have been terminated. Such a license shall not extend further than is necessary for the application of the patented invention of the licensee. The latter shall be obliged to grant a reciprocal license under his patent to the proprietor of the other patent.

Art. 58.- 1. If the license referred to in Article 57(2) or (4) is unjustifiably withheld, the license shall be granted by the court on a claim by the interested party. At the request of the claimant, the Office shall enter the writ in the patent register.

2. If a patent is granted on the basis of this Act, the claimant's claim shall not be admitted if he does not append to his statement of claim the results of a report by the Office or the European Patent Office as referred to in the European Patent Convention concerning the state of the art with regard to the subject matter of the patent for which the license was claimed.

3. The grant of a license claimed pursuant to Article 57(4), first sentence, may be suspended with or without a time limit if, within two months after service of the writ in which the license is claimed, a claim for the invalidation of the patent for which the license is claimed has been submitted.

4. In the specification of the license granted the court may derogate from the licensee's claims and can also require that the licensee provide security within a certain period. A license granted pursuant to Article 57(2) shall not be exclusive and shall not be transferable, even by sublicensing, otherwise than together with the part of the company in which the license is being worked. A license granted pursuant to Article 57(4), first or third sentence, shall not expire because the patent on which the license is granted has lapsed on expiry of the period referred to in Article 33(5) or Article 36(5) or has been successfully claimed, but shall expire where the patent is partially or entirely invalidated as a result of the claim referred to in the third paragraph.

5. A decision as referred to in Article 57(1) or a court decision having become res judicata shall be entered in the patent register by the Office. If security is to be provided, the entry shall not be made before that requirement has been met. A fee, the amount of which shall be determined by administrative order, shall be due for the entry. The license shall only come into effect after the entry, but shall subsequently also have effect with regard to persons who became entitled to the patent after the entry in the register of the writ referred to in paragraph (1). A registered license granted on the basis of Article 57(4) shall have retroactive effect to the date on which the writ was entered.

6. On a claim by the most diligent party , in the absence of agreement, the court shall fix the remuneration that the licensee has to pay to the patent proprietor. The court may also require the licensee to provide security within a certain period, or confirm or change the security fixed by virtue of Article 57(1) or paragraph (5) of this Article.

7. For the application of Article 57 and this Article to Community patents pursuant to Articles 45 to 47 of the Community Patent Convention, "a European patent" should read: a Community patent; in the fourth paragraph of this Article, "the period referred to in Article 33(5) or Article 36(5)" should read: the period referred to in Article 63 of the European Patent Convention.

Art. 59.- 1. In the interest of the defense of the Kingdom, and on a joint recommendation from the Minister directly concerned and the Minister, it may be provided by Royal Decree that the State shall be authorized to perform or cause others to perform acts, to be described precisely in the Decree, which the proprietor of a patent to be specified in said Decree has the exclusive right to perform, or cause others to perform, pursuant to Article 53. The authorization shall apply throughout the lifetime of the patent unless a shorter term has been specified in the Decree.

2. Upon the entry into force of the Royal Decree, the Minister directly concerned shall determine, by agreement with the proprietor of the patent, the remuneration payable to the latter by the State. If the Minister directly concerned has not reached an agreement with the patent proprietor within six months from the date of the entry into force of said Decree, Article 58(6), with the exception of the provisions concerning the deposit of security, shall apply mutatis mutandis.

3. In applying this Article to Community patents pursuant to Article 45 of the Community Patent Convention, in the first paragraph "acts ...which the proprietor of a patent to be specified in said Decree has the exclusive right to perform pursuant to Article 53" should read: acts ...which the proprietor of a patent to be specified by Royal Decree may prohibit third parties from performing pursuant to Article 25 of the Community Patent Convention.