VO Patents & Trademarks is a firm of trademark attorneys, patent attorneys and attorneys at law. With more than 60 professionals and offices in 9 locations, including The Hague and Munich, it is the largest and leading IP firm in the Netherlands, as well as a major European firm. It has specialised in intellectual property since 1916 and has played an important role in the Netherlands becoming one of the most active countries in IP ownership today.
Professional pride
Rigorous in-house and external training programmes ensure that both attorneys and back-office staff are qualified to the highest standards. Partners and associates of the firm are active in professional organisations – both nationally and internationally – on governmental committees concerned with matters of industrial property and in education and professional training relating to intellectual property.
Full-service IP partner
With trademark attorneys, patent attorneys and attorneys at law, VO is a full-service firm. As it supports clients worldwide to get the best out of their intellectual property, VO is praised as “a centre of excellence”. In 2010, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2018 the firm received the Prosecution IP Firm of the Year Award for the Netherlands from Managing Intellectual Property magazine.
VO’s trademark and design attorneys are authorised to act before the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property (BOIP), the German Patent and Trademark Office (GPTO), the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) and the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).
Over the years, the firm’s consistent growth in volume and client base has led to an expansion of its workforce and office network. VO is a European firm with strong Dutch roots, combining native entrepreneurial attitude with a strong drive to explore new territories.
Services
Our trademark and design attorneys and lawyers assist in matters concerning trademarks, trade names, domain names, models, designs and copyrights. Services include:
- advisory services;
- searches and clearance studies;
- protection of IP rights throughout the world (in close cooperation with foreign colleagues where required) – VO’s China expertise is concentrated in its China desk;
- representation before the EUIPO, WIPO, BOIP and GPTO in registration and related procedures including oppositions;
- IP portfolio management;
- customs cases; and
- maintaining and enforcing IP rights (infringement and validity opinions, as well as coordination and substantive counsel in disputes and litigation).
VO’s trademark section is a fully fledged department that can handle any trademark or design issue. When required, the firm’s trademark attorneys join forces with its lawyers and patent attorneys to service clients’ entire IP portfolios – trademarks, designs and patents alike. VO’s expertise is combined with its keen sense of business, enabling it to handle intellectual property from clients’ perspectives.
Extensive experience in international work
VO’s trademark and patent attorneys have extensive international experience and are familiar with the requirements in different countries around the world. The firm has a longstanding global referral network and is used to teaming up with its own IP lawyers or with specialists from other law firms in complex cases and cross-border litigation.
How VO works
It is standard procedure to develop a plan of approach that is based on each client’s specific needs. The best IP strategies are chosen together with the client. VO’s schedule of charges is based on a unique simplified costing system. For standard agency services relating to Benelux and EU trademark registrations, all-in amounts are charged. This is simple, predictable and cost effective.
Clients
The firm fosters long relationships with its extensive national and international client base, covering all sectors of industry and all sizes – from multinationals to small and medium-sized companies, including spin-offs.