High-profile patent cases before Dutch courts

The forefront role of the Dutch courts, as well as the quality and experience of many Dutch IP professionals, attracts many high-level and influential cases. For example, in the past few years Dutch courts have dealt with high-profile cases in the fields of pharmaceuticals, life sciences, and telecommunication, which are also of great interest outside the Netherlands.

An example of recent successes that V.O. attorneys have achieved in Dutch courts concerns a patent of the pharmaceutical company Grünenthal. Together with a team of lawyers, V.O. patent attorney Martin Klok assisted Grünenthal during the proceedings. In these proceedings, not only was the validity of the patent challenged by Grünenthal's competitor Teva, but Grünenthal also claimed that Teva should refrain from infringing the patent. Surprisingly, the Dutch court ruled in favor of Grünenthal on both aspects. The ruling was remarkable because the same patent had previously been found invalid in proceedings in the United Kingdom and Germany.

V.O.'s patent attorneys are regularly involved in high-profile patent litigation that helps define the landscape of IP. In 2024, V.O. was even recognized by JUVE Patent (which reports on the IP market as an independent agency) with five stars in litigation. That recognition was accompanied by the explicit mention of the individual achievements of some of our patent attorneys. Our contribution to patent litigation provides a wealth of experience. We can then put that to use in smaller cases and, in addition, in drafting and handling patent applications. For V.O. and our clients, this is an absolute win-win situation.