Netherlands · Area of law · Intellectueel-eigendomsrecht
Intellectual property law in the Netherlands: published decisions
In 2025, 121 published decisions carry the intellectual property law label (Intellectueel-eigendomsrecht) in the Netherlands, 1% fewer than in 2024. They come from 12 of the 19 courts, and Rechtbank Den Haag accounts for 60% of them. Together they make up 0.2% of the decisions published that year. These counts describe published case law, not the number of cases brought.
- Published decisions in 2025121−1% over one year
- Share of all published decisions0.2%of the 64,124 decisions of the 19 courts
- Courts with decisions12 of 198 district courts, 3 courts of appeal, 1 highest court
- Largest countRechtbank Den Haag73 decisions, 60% of this area
Courts publishing these decisions
The table lists the courts whose published decisions in 2025 carry the intellectual property law label, with the number of decisions, the share of all decisions with this label and the weight of this area in each court's own published decisions.
In 2025, 121 published decisions carry this label, 1% fewer than in 2024, from 12 of the 19 courts. Rechtbank Den Haag accounts for 73 (60%), followed by Gerechtshof Den Haag (11) and Rechtbank Midden-Nederland (8). By level, district courts account for 85%, courts of appeal for 11% and the highest courts for 4.1%.
| Court | Level | Decisions 2025 | Share of this area | Share of the court's decisions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rechtbank Den Haag | District court | 73 | 60% | 0.4% |
| Gerechtshof Den Haag | Court of appeal | 11 | 9.1% | 0.9% |
| Rechtbank Midden-Nederland | District court | 8 | 6.6% | 0.2% |
| Rechtbank Amsterdam | District court | 7 | 5.8% | 0.3% |
| Hoge Raad | Supreme Court | 5 | 4.1% | 0.5% |
| Rechtbank Noord-Holland | District court | 5 | 4.1% | 0.1% |
| Rechtbank Rotterdam | District court | 4 | 3.3% | under 0.1% |
| Rechtbank Gelderland | District court | 3 | 2.5% | 0.1% |
| Rechtbank Zeeland-West-Brabant | District court | 2 | 1.7% | under 0.1% |
| Gerechtshof Arnhem-Leeuwarden | Court of appeal | 1 | 0.8% | under 0.1% |
| Gerechtshof 's-Hertogenbosch | Court of appeal | 1 | 0.8% | under 0.1% |
| Rechtbank Limburg | District court | 1 | 0.8% | under 0.1% |
Published decisions only: each court publishes a different share of its rulings, so these counts are not caseloads and cannot be compared as workloads.
Decisions year by year
This chart follows, year by year, the number of published decisions that carry the intellectual property law label. The volume measures what is published, not the number of cases brought in the same year.
Over the period, the number of published intellectual property law decisions went from 21 in 2013 to 121 in 2025. The yearly count ranged from 21 in 2013 to 160 in 2019. These decisions were 0.2% of all published decisions in 2025 and under 0.1% in 2013.
- District courts
- Courts of appeal
- Highest courts
| Year | District courts | Courts of appeal | Highest courts | Total | Share of all decisions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 21 | under 0.1% |
| 2014 | 39 | 9 | 0 | 48 | 0.2% |
| 2015 | 109 | 14 | 0 | 123 | 0.5% |
| 2016 | 110 | 9 | 0 | 119 | 0.5% |
| 2017 | 131 | 15 | 0 | 146 | 0.6% |
| 2018 | 109 | 13 | 1 | 123 | 0.4% |
| 2019 | 133 | 18 | 9 | 160 | 0.6% |
| 2020 | 115 | 5 | 2 | 122 | 0.3% |
| 2021 | 100 | 20 | 4 | 124 | 0.3% |
| 2022 | 109 | 18 | 1 | 128 | 0.3% |
| 2023 | 120 | 22 | 7 | 149 | 0.3% |
| 2024 | 98 | 15 | 9 | 122 | 0.2% |
| 2025 | 103 | 13 | 5 | 121 | 0.2% |
Series start in 2013, the first year of the current court map. The series reflect what courts publish and how decisions are labelled as well as what they decide.
Related areas
Each detailed area belongs to one of three broad groups of areas of law. The table sets intellectual property law beside the group it belongs to and the other detailed areas of that group.
Intellectual property law decisions are 0.5% of the 25,207 published in 2025 under the civil law label. Other detailed areas of the group include family law (7,005), contract and liability law (5,818) and employment law (1,089).
| Area of law | Decisions 2025 | Share of the group | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Civil law | 25,207 | – | +14% |
| Intellectual property law | 121 | 0.5% | −1% |
| Family law | 7,005 | 28% | +15% |
| Contract and liability law | 5,818 | 23% | +13% |
| Employment law | 1,089 | 4.3% | +4% |
| Insolvency law | 1,037 | 4.1% | +49% |
| Civil procedure | 589 | 2.3% | −1% |
| Company law | 326 | 1.3% | −2% |
| Property law | 142 | 0.6% | −2% |
| Public procurement law | 84 | 0.3% | +25% |
| European civil law | 74 | 0.3% | +131% |
| Private international law | 65 | 0.3% | +81% |
| Competition law (civil) | 14 | under 0.1% | – |
A decision can carry several labels, so the detailed areas do not add up to the group.
Understanding these figures
What intellectual property law covers
Intellectual property law covers patents, trade marks, designs, copyright and related rights, and the remedies for infringement. In 2025, 121 published decisions carried this label.
Which courts hear these cases
Intellectual property cases are heard by the district courts, with appeals to the courts of appeal and, on points of law, to the Hoge Raad. Patent cases are concentrated in the District Court of The Hague. In 2025, published decisions with this label came from 12 of the 19 courts.
A published selection
The figures count decisions published on rechtspraak.nl, the website of the Dutch judiciary, where each decision carries a European Case Law Identifier (ECLI). Courts publish only part of their rulings, and the share published differs from one court to another, from one area of law to another and from one year to the next. For intellectual property law, the published decisions of 2025 are those counted; they are not the number of cases brought.
How areas of law are labelled
Each published decision carries one or more area-of-law labels. There are three broad groups, administrative law, civil law and public international law, and, within them, detailed areas such as tax law or family law. A decision can carry several labels, and some carry only a broad one, so the detailed areas do not add up to their group and counts for different areas cannot be added together.
Reading these figures with care
The number of published intellectual property law decisions depends on how many cases reach the courts and on what the courts publish in this field. In 2025, Rechtbank Den Haag alone published 60% of them, so the national count largely reflects the publication of that court. The number of detailed area labels per published decision went from 0.46 in 2013 to 0.73 in 2025, so the evolution of a detailed area also reflects how often these labels are applied. The data hold counts only, with no outcome and no time to judgment, and no statistic can predict the outcome of a particular case.
Frequently asked questions
How many intellectual property law decisions were published in the Netherlands in 2025?
In 2025, 121 decisions published on rechtspraak.nl carried the intellectual property law label, 1% fewer than in 2024. They come from 12 of the 19 courts covered here and make up 0.2% of all decisions published that year.
Which Dutch courts publish intellectual property law decisions?
In 2025, Rechtbank Den Haag published 73 of them, followed by Gerechtshof Den Haag (11) and Rechtbank Midden-Nederland (8). District courts account for 85% of the decisions, courts of appeal for 11% and the highest courts for 4.1%.
Has the number of published intellectual property law decisions changed over time?
The number of published intellectual property law decisions went from 21 in 2013 to 121 in 2025. Their share of all published decisions went from under 0.1% in 2013 to 0.2% in 2025.
What does intellectual property law cover?
Intellectual property law covers patents, trade marks, designs, copyright and related rights, and the remedies for infringement.
Do these figures show how many intellectual property law cases are brought?
No. They count decisions published on rechtspraak.nl, a selection of all rulings, and a case can produce several decisions. The counts describe published case law, not the number of cases brought.