Byelaws
As described in article 23 h of the Patent Act 1995 (Rijksoctrooiwet 1995) as amended on 21 May 2004
Institute's place of domicile Article 1
The Netherlands Institute of Patent Attorneys is domiciled in Rijswijk.
Member of Institute Article 2
1. Ordinary members of the Netherlands Institute of Patent Attorneys are all those who are entered in the register described in article 23a of the Patent Act 1995.
2. In addition to ordinary members the Institute also has associate members.
3. Associate members are patent attorneys who have been removed from the register, patent attorneys in training, European patent attorneys with offices in the Netherlands or European patent attorneys in training.
4. Those wishing to register as an associate member must include the following with their application:
a. proof that the entry in the register has been removed; or
b1. a declaration signed by a patent attorney entered in the register of patent attorneys that the person concerned is in training with that patent attorney or in his/her office to sit the patent attorney examination and/or complete the period specified in article 23a paragraph 2 of the Patent Act 1995 or that the person concerned is preparing for the test of competence described in article 23a paragraph 2 of the Patent Act 1995, or
b2. a declaration provided by the person concerned that h or she is in possession of one of the documents specified in the Order in Council referred to in article 23c paragraph 6 at a) or that he/she or she has been admitted to the examination or the test of competence respectively under article 23a paragraph 2 of the Patent Act 1995 ; or
c. a declaration signed by a patent attorney entered in the register of patent attorneys that the person concerned is in training with that patent attorney or in his/her office to sit the European patent attorney examination as described in article 134 (2)(c) of the European Patent Convention, or a declaration issued by his/her Netherlands-based employer that the person concerned represents his/her employer at the European Patent Office in order to comply with Article 10 (2) of the Regulation on the European qualifying examination for professional representatives.
5. The board of the Institute will decide on the admission of the prospective associate member as described in paragraph 3 and paragraph 4. It is possible to appeal to the Supervisory Council against this decision.
6. Only the ordinary members are entitled to vote.
Board of the Institute Article 3
1. The Board of the Institute consists of a chairman, a secretary, a treasurer and two, four or six other members.
2. The posts of secretary and treasurer can be held by the same person, in which case the number of other members is three, five or seven.
3. The number of board members and the decision that one person will hold the posts of secretary and treasurer will be decided by a resolution of the General Meeting as a result of a proposal to that end from the board.
4. The chairman chairs the meetings of the Institute and of the board.
5. The secretary conducts the correspondence, takes the minutes of the meetings referred to in the previous paragraph and keeps the Institute's archive.
6. The treasurer manages the Institute's funds.
7. In their absence the chairman, the secretary and the treasurer will be substituted by another member of the board.
8. The board is responsible for the periodic publication of the Circular (Circulaire) and of the Newsletter (Orgaan) for Patent Attorneys.
Supervisory Council for patent attorneys Article 4
1. The Supervisory Council consists of five members, of whom at least three are elected from the ordinary members of the Institute.
2. There are five deputy members of whom at least three are elected from the ordinary members of the Institute.
3. The board nominates the members and the deputy members of the Supervisory Council to the General Meeting for election.
4. The board nominates one of the elected ordinary members to the General Meeting for nomination by the General Meeting to the Minister of Economic Affairs for the appointment of that member as chairman of the Supervisory Council, subject to the provisions of article 23f paragraph 4 of the Patent Act 1995.
5. The board nominates one of the elected ordinary members to the General Meeting for election as secretary.
Elections Article 5
1. Subject to the provisions of paragraph 2 of this article the General Meeting elects the following from amongst the ordinary members:
a. the chairman, the secretary, the treasurer and the other members of the board of the Institute;
b. the members of the Supervisory Council, with the exception of its chairman;
c. the deputy members of the Supervisory Council.
2. The officers specified in the preceding paragraph resign every two years, on the understanding that:
1st: the following resign in even-numbered years and are elected in the following order:
a. the chairman and one, two or three ordinary members of the board depending on whether the board consists of five, seven or nine members;
b. two members and three deputy members of the Supervisory Council.
2nd: the following resign in odd-numbered years and are elected in the following order:
a. the secretary, the treasurer and one, two or three ordinary members of the board depending on whether the board consists of five, seven or nine members; if the posts of secretary and treasurer are held by one person, two, three, or four members of the board will resign alongside this officer depending on whether the board consists of five, seven or nine members;
b. three members and two deputy members of the Supervisory Council.
3. Resigning officers as specified in paragraph 1 can be re-elected immediately.
4. The board will remove a member of the board from his/her position on the grounds listed in article 23g paragraph 2 of the Patent Act 1995 concerning the Supervisory Council.
5. Vacancies resulting from the death, premature resignation or removal of one of the officers specified in paragraph 1 will be filled as soon as possible. The persons then appointed will resign at the time when the person whose place they have taken would have resigned if they had remained in office.
6. The elections described in this article will take place by written ballot separately for each position to be filled and by an absolute majority of valid votes cast. Blank votes will be deemed not to have been validly cast. If the required majority is not achieved, a second ballot is conducted between the two people who received the most votes. The person who receives the most votes in the second ballot is elected. If a tied vote means that more than two people qualify for the second ballot, an interim ballot will first decide who will take part in the second ballot. If the votes in this interim ballot are tied, the decision as to who will take part in the second ballot will be made by lot. If the votes in the second ballot are tied, the decision will be made by lot.
Candidates for the vacancies described in paragraph 1 can be nominated by the board and/or by at least ten ordinary members. Each nomination must be accompanied by a declaration from the candidate concerned that he/she is prepared to accept his/her potential election. Nominations by the board must be recorded in the meeting notification referred to in article 7 paragraph 3. Nominations by the ordinary members can be notified to the secretary in writing up until the start of the relevant ballot.
If only one candidate has been nominated for a vacancy, they will - contrary to the above - be deemed to have been elected without a ballot. If more than one candidate has been nominated for a vacancy, the ballot will only be conducted between these candidates.
If there are no nominations for a vacancy, no ballot will take place at the meeting, and the filling of this vacancy will be held over to the next meeting.
7. The manner of voting described in paragraph 6 is also used to vote on the person who will be nominated to be chairman of the Supervisory Council in accordance with article 4 paragraph 4.
Taking office Article 6
The officers specified in article 5 paragraph 1 will take office on the day following that on which they have been elected.
Meetings of the Institute Article 7
1a. The annual meeting of the Netherlands Institute of Patent Attorneys takes place annually before 1 May. At this meeting the secretary reports on the affairs of the Institute and the treasurer reports on the financial changes and position over the past financial year. The financial year is deemed to run from 1 January to 31 December.
b. At the annual meeting described in paragraph 1 the board will present the budget for the next calendar year to the members of the Institute.
2. Otherwise the Institute meets whenever the board deems this desirable or if at least ten ordinary members submit a written request to this end to the board, specifying in detail the subjects to be discussed.
3. The board will convene the meeting of the Institute by means of a meeting notification which is sent to the members at least fourteen days prior to the date of the meeting. This meeting notification lists the items to be discussed. Resolutions on subjects not listed on the meeting notification can only be passed at a meeting if at least half the ordinary members of the Institute declare themselves in favour.
In urgent cases the board can convene a meeting of the Institute at less than fourteen days' notice, but never less than two days.
4. The minutes of a meeting will be presented for approval at the next annual meeting.
5. The members have the right to make proposals and speak at the meeting. Unless specified otherwise in these byelaws, decisions are made at the meeting by a majority of the validly cast votes, whereby each ordinary member can cast one vote.
6. Votes on persons are cast in a secret written ballot; votes on issues are verbal, unless the board or at least three of the ordinary members present wish a written ballot.
7. If the vote on an issue is tied, the proposal concerned is deemed to have been rejected. If the vote on persons is tied, the decision will be made by lot, expect where these byelaws stipulate otherwise.
8. Unless stipulated otherwise, a resolution passed by a meeting will come into effect three months after it has been notified to the members in writing.
Meetings of the board of the Institute Article 8
1. The meetings of the board of the Institute will take place when and where the chairman or at least two board members deem desirable.
2. At least half the total number of board members must be present in order to make valid decisions.
3. The decisions are made with a majority of votes; if the vote is tied, the decision will be made by the chairman, who is always the last to cast his/her vote.
4. The minutes of a meeting will be presented for approval at the next meeting.
Funds Article 9
1. The Institute's funds consist of membership fees, voluntary contributions, inheritances, bequests, gifts and extraordinary income.
2. The level of the membership fee as referred to in article 23 h paragraph 2 (d) of the Patent Act 1995 is set annually by the General Meeting. The membership fee will not exceed € 450*.
3. The level of the membership fee for the associate members is set annually by the General Meeting.
4. The period within which the membership fees as described in paragraph 2 and paragraph 3 must be paid ends on July first of the relevant calendar year.
Supervision Article 10
1. If a complaint is received against a member of the Institute, the secretary of the Supervisory Council will send the member concerned a copy of the complaint by registered post. If the chairman of the Council does not immediately dismiss the complaint as manifestly unfounded, the Council will give the member against whom the complaint is brought the opportunity to submit a written defence if desired within a period to be stipulated by the Council.
2. A member summoned in accordance with article 23s paragraph 1 of the Patent Act 1995 is obliged to respond to the summons. If, in the Supervisory Council's opinion, he/she fails to respond to the summons without valid reason for absence, the Council can nonetheless make a decision, subject to the provisions of article 23p of the Patent Act 1995.
3. The Supervisory Council will make the decisions referred to in article 23v, paragraph 1 of the Patent Act 1995 with five members or deputy members.
Amendment of the of the Byelaws Article 11
The meeting notification for a meeting of the Institute which is convened to pass a resolution to amend these byelaws must set out the proposal to amend verbatim. This proposal, which can be amended at the meeting, will then only be deemed to have been accepted if the absolute majority of all the ordinary members of the Institute declare themselves in favour of it. If this majority has not been achieved, the board will inform the members of this and of any amendments adopted at the meeting in writing within three weeks of the meeting. The ordinary members can inform the secretary of the Institute in writing within five weeks of the meeting whether they wish to accept the proposal - amended where applicable - whereby it will then only be deemed to have been accepted if either the absolute majority of all the ordinary members of the Institute, or two thirds of the members who have taken part in the written ballot have declared themselves in favour.
