ABSTRACT
With the implementation of the IPR Enforcement Directive,1 the Dutch legislature has introduced an exception to the civil procedure rules on recoverable costs. These rules, which currently apply to all but intellectual property rights (IPR) enforcement cases, set forth a tariff system: the losing party is ordered to compensate the winning party for legal fees according to a tariff (liquidatietarief). In practice, this tariff tends to be well below the actual cost of the services of a lawyer. With the introduction of article 1019h of the Dutch Code of Civil Procedure (DCCP) on 1 May 2007, this changed for IPR enforcement cases. On the basis of article 1019h DCCP, legal costs including lawyer’s fees may be shifted in full to the losing party. In other civil proceedings, the conventional rule providing mitigated compensation for legal costs (‘losing party pays according to a tariff ’) remains in effect.
