Vriesendorp & Gaade

Octrooibureau Vriesendorp & Gaade B.V.

Founded	The Hague, Netherlands in 1833
Headquarters	Koninginnegracht 19 2514 AB The Hague, Netherlands
Website	www.vriesendorp.nl

The old logo

Octrooibureau Vriesendorp & Gaade B.V. is a Dutch patent attorney agency, founded in 1833. ^[1] The firm was not continuously active as a patent attorney agency, because the Netherlands abolished patents in 1869, and did not reintroduce them until 1912. ^[2]

History

The Netherlands have known patents for a long period of time. As early as the Middle Ages ^[3] patents were granted at regular times and famous names can be found among the patentees, like Leeghwater, Huygens, De Keyser, Stevin and Drebbel. In 1817 a Patents Act came into force under King William I. Under this Act the Firm of Vriesendorp & Gaade was engaged in applying for patents. ^[4]

• 
  Mr. Anthony Nicolaas Vriesendorp (1806-1845)
• 
  Mr. Jan Hendrik Gaade (1800-1861)

First patent application and foundation in 1833

The Firm of Vriesendorp & Gaade filed the first patent application in which they acted as representatives on September 27, 1833. The patent in question was granted by the King on November 9, 1833, under the Dutch Patent Act of 1817 ^[3] It concerned a so-called patent of importation granted to F.M.N. van Aken, who had become familiar with an apparatus for refining sugar and distilling spirits in France described in a French patent which was applied for on 4 February 1833. ^[4] Ever since the name of the Firm of Vriesendorp & Gaade has been mentioned in the patent records as a patent agent office.

The founders of the Firm were Anthony Vriesendorp (1806–1845), springing from an old Dordrecht patrician race, who graduated as a doctor at law at Leyden and Jan Gaade (1800–1861), at whose house at The Hague, Westeinde 10 the office of the Firm initially had its seat. ^{[5] [ better source needed ]} In 1833 the profession of Mr. Vriesendorp and Mr. Gaade was indicated as 'commission agent' and their activities covered a great domain.

Appointed 'government solicitor' in 1837

An important fact for the Firm took place on 6 August 1837, when Mr. A.N. Vriesendorp was appointed government solicitor in the Residentie in The Hague. ^[6] Article 3 of the Royal Decree of 5 September 1823 defines the function of government solicitor as follows: No petitions or statements may be filed with Us or the various State Departments or may be accepted, unless they have been signed by the petitioners personally or on behalf of them by the government solicitor. ^[7]

Thus, solicitors were intermediaries between the public and the government who were appointed by the government and were in charge of properly drawing up and filing petitions to the government. By virtue of the Patents Act of 1817 ^[3] a patent was a favour that could be granted by the King and so drafting and filing patent applications also belonged to a solicitor's work. So, it was a logical development that after Mr. Vriesendorp's appointment as a solicitor in 1837 more and more patents were applied for by the Firm of Vriesendorp & Gaade. ^{[5] [ better source needed ]}

Patent no. 1 under the Dutch Patent Act of 1910

The Netherlands also became a party to the Convention of Paris of March 20th 1883, ^[8] by which an international regulation of industrial property rights came into being and came into force in the Netherlands. On 3 May 1905 the bill for a Patents Act was introduced. After the Patents Act of 1910 had come into force ^[3] the office resumed the old branch of the solicitor's profession, filing patent applications. ^{[5] [ better source needed ]}

So, in the Netherlands the 'patent agent' appeared instead of the 'government solicitor'. F.L. Kleyn, patent attorney at the Firm of Vriesendorp & Gaade filed a patent application, which would become granted patent no. 1 under the new Dutch Patent Act of 1910. ^[9]

In order to express that the Firm of Vriesendorp & Gaade had resumed the handling of patent matters in the Netherlands, the name was changed into Octrooibureau Vriesendorp & Gaade. ^{[5] [ better source needed ]}

The World Wars

In spite of World War I Octrooibureau continued to develop. The firm took over the patent department of Van der Graaf in 1917. ^{[5] [ better source needed ]}

During World War II, communications with many countries gradually got interrupted, but until almost the end of the war work could be done.^{[ citation needed ]} Two months before the end of World War II, on March 3, 1945, The Hague was heavily stricken by an allied bombardment, ^[10] which in particular struck the immediate surroundings of the accommodation and the adjoining offices of Vriesendorp & Gaade, which got a direct hit.^{[ citation needed ]} The blaze occurring as a result thereof reduced the accommodation of Octrooibureau Vriesendorp & Gaade to ashes in a couple of hours. With assistance from Dutch Patent Office, colleagues/patent agents and clients, the records and the administration were reconstructed. ^{[5] [ better source needed ]}

Post World War II developments

After the end of World War II, important developments in the field of industrial property, such as the Treaty of Rome of 1957, Patent Cooperation Treaty of 1970 and the European Patent Convention of 1973 caused the nature of the firm's business activities to change.

At present (2010) Octrooibureau Vriesendorp & Gaade B.V. has two offices, one in The Hague ^[11] and one in Apeldoorn. ^[12] The staff of Octrooibureau Vriesendorp & Gaade consists of approximately 40 employee, active in its traditional business in the field of industrial property. ^[1]

References

1. www.vriesendorp.nl, Octrooibureau Vriesendorp & Gaade B.V., visited on July 2nd 2010
2. Chang, Ha-Joon. "Kicking Away the Ladder: How the Economic and Intellectual Histories of Capitalism Have Been Re-Written to Justify Neo-Liberal Capitalism". Post-Autistic Economics Review . 4 September 2002: Issue 15, Article 3. Retrieved on 8 October 2008.
3. "History of patents" Archived 2011-07-24 at the Wayback Machine , NL Octrooicentrum, Rijswijk, visited on July 1st 2010
4. Patent No. 71 regarding an apparatus for refining sugar and distilling spirits, filed by Vriesendorp & Gaade for F.M.N. van Aken filed on September 27th 1833, granted by the King on November 9th 1833
5. Ir. C.M.R Davidson, Booklet Archived 2011-07-24 at the Wayback Machine celebrating "One hundred years Octrooibureau Vriesendorp & Gaade", Published by Vriesendorp & Gaade in 1933
6. Didericus Gijsbertus van Epen, Nederland's patriciaat, Volume 25, Centraal bureau voor genealogie en heraldick., 1939, visited on july 5th 2010
7. Google Books, Staatsblad van het Koningrijk der Nederlanden, 1823, Algemeene Landsdrukkerij te 'sGravenhage 1824, visited on july 5th 2010
8. "125-jarig bestaan Unieverdrag van Parijs", NL Octrooicentrum, 20 maart 2008, Rijswijk, bezocht op 5 juli 2010
9. "Dutch Patent no. 1", Dutch Patent Register, filed by Dr F. L. Kleyn of the Firm of Vriesendorp & Gaade on June 21st 1912
10. "Bombardement Den Haag, 3 maart 1945", Nederland in de Tweede Wereldoorlog, visited on July 1, 2010
11. Detail page Patent Attorney Firm - Den Haag, Netherlands Institute of Patent Attorneys, visited on july 5th 2010
12. Detail page Patent Attorney Firm Vriesendorp & Gaade B.V - Apeldoorn, Netherlands Institute of Patent Attorneys, visited on july 5th 2010