NLO WAS FOUNDED IN 1888

Nederlandsch Octrooibureau (NLO) was founded in Amsterdam - nearly 135 years ago. NLO moved to The Hague at the beginning of the twentieth century because the official Patent Office was located there. The office had only one patent attorney. Yes, you read that well, one patent attorney: NLO started small. HIGHS AND LOWS After the implementation of the Dutch patent law in 1912, the office grew rapidly and moved several times to provide space for the expanding staff. In 1938 at the celebration of NLO’s 50th birthday, over 80 people were employed, including 11 patent attorneys.

When NLO celebrated its anniversary of a centenary, the amount of patent attorneys decreased to 18, due to the new European patent. On the occasion of the centenary, NLO published a detailed booklet in which, in addition to the history of the office, a forecast was made for the future.

In the forecast, there was no doubt about the future amount of inventions and innovations. The increase in patent applications in the field of biotech was even predicted. NLO’s prediction of its offices and staff numbers itself was fascinating: due to the introduction of the 'World Patent', the number of NLO patent attorneys would reduce to between 7 and 12. DID NLO’S PREDICTION FROM 1988 COME TRUE? A big no: with nearly 90 patent- and trademark attorneys, partners, associated partners or trainees and a total workforce of over 230 people. Nowadays NLO has four offices in the Netherlands and two in Belgium. As we all know now, nothing is more complicated than predicting the future!