Description of the activities of the Division of Patent Information (DLI) of the Dutch government industrial consulting service (Rijksnijverheidsdienst)

The DLI (which stands for Documentation, Literature search and Information) arose from the setting up within the Dutch Patent Office of a division of the Governmental Industrial Consulting Service (RND) forming a technical information centre. Out of this came a special service provided by the Dutch Government to help inventors hampered by lack of money. If an inventor proves that his financial situation is poor, the filing of a patent application and patent agent's fees will be paid for by the government. The DLI performs a novelty search, and if this shows that the inventor's application meets the requirements of patentability of the Dutch Law, the inventor qualifies for financial assistance in filing the application. Further assistance for prosecution of the application is dependent upon a third party certifying that they are willing to exploit the invention. The DLI also gives lectures on intellectual property and general advice to anyone having difficulty with the patent system.