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Everything about patents, trademarks and designs easily explained through webinars 

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Since August last year, V.O. has been organizing a series of webinars on the most important issues surrounding the protection of intellectual property. The webinars, which are free to attend, are specifically intended for innovative entrepreneurs who want to stay abreast of opportunities so they can make the right choices to maximize the return on their innovation. In the meantime, 812 participants have watched one or more of the six webinars, which were assessed with an average score of 8. We asked some participants about their experiences.

‘Good to refresh my knowledge’

Jeroen Tonnaer, CEO of PharmProspect, participated in several of our webinars. "In my work, I help clients, including young biotech companies, with their business development and the licensing of their innovations. Through my clients I regularly come into contact with V.O., which is why I was also interested in the webinars," says Tonnaer.


For Tonnaer, the webinars mainly meant refreshing his IP knowledge. "The topics discussed in the webinars were familiar to me, but in your daily work you often only have to deal with some of them. It is then beneficial to hear the bigger story. In the webinar on valuation, for example, all different types of licenses were briefly discussed. That provided me with a complete picture. It also ensures that you have a better understanding of how intellectual property protection can be properly arranged and for what matters it is best to engage a patent expert".


Tonnaer is enthusiastic about the format of the webinar. "In a user-friendly way you can participate in the webinar. The setup with the presenter, expert and customer case is enjoyable to watch. I saw that the live chat was used a lot, and also the length of the webinars is good; it should not be longer than 45 minutes. After the basic information, I would love to be able to get a more in-depth look at a topic in another way".

Thanks to the information I received and the answers to the questions in the chat, I continue to actively pursue this strategy.

‘Professional in design and well organized’

Ron Sportel, Manager of Innovation & Development at Neenah Coldenhove, participated in the webinars ‘Getting Started with Patents’ and ‘Valuation, Licensing and Sales’. "In my job, I deal with the innovation of our products and their protection through, for example, licenses and patents daily".


The webinars were a way for Sportel to gain more knowledge and keep up with developments in the field. Sportel: "I learned a lot from the webinars! However, I would have liked a little more interaction with other participants so that we could exchange experiences with each other”.

The dynamics of live chat

During each webinar, at least four patent or trademark experts, depending on the topic, gather in a conference room in the Hague office of V.O. At a safe distance from each other, armed with a laptop, they keep an eye on a large screen at the back of the room. On it, chats come in one after another. A designated person distributes these efficiently among the colleagues present. Dozens of questions are answered in no time. For individual or complex questions, our experts contact participants afterwards via a personal chat. It is clear that this service meets a great need among the participants.


Sportel is pleased with the contact with V.O. during the webinar. “The questions I had were quickly answered in a personal chat with the IP experts. I found the webinar very professional and well organized. As far as I'm concerned, V.O. should definitely continue with the webinars, especially now that we can't physically get together yet”.

‘A trigger to ask questions’

Stéfanie van Hasselt, managing director of Total Innovation B.V., attended the webinar 'Getting started with trademark and design protection,' among others. She explains: “When I wanted to patent and register my product, the Total Cup®, for trademark and design rights, I came to V.O. That's how I also discovered the webinars. Sometimes you are in the middle of a topic and then a webinar is a trigger to keep asking questions and get the information back in focus. For example, it got me thinking again about trademark and design law: how long exactly is the term?”


For Van Hasselt, the webinar also confirmed the importance of IP protection. “Patents are an essential part of my business strategy. These rights are essential though. Thanks to the information I received and the answers to the questions in the chat, I continue to actively pursue this strategy. I know what rights I have, and how to make agreements with others about them”.


One day in advance, participants will receive a reminder for the webinar. Van Hasselt: “I liked that I was alerted in advance to participate in the webinar, that way I could not forget it in my full schedule. You're really kept involved this way”.

Free webinar from V.O.


In a series of six free webinars, experts from V.O. share their knowledge on a variety of IP topics. With this, we want to inspire customers and non-customers to use their IP strategically, so that they can make the most of their innovation.


In the webinars, we cover topics such as patents, trademark and design protection, and collaboration and confidentiality in about 45 minutes. In addition, the topics of patent search, valuation of a patent, and infringement and opposition are also covered. The topics are explained with a specific case from one of our customers. In this way, the participants immediately get a picture of the application in practice.


Frequently asked questions are also addressed in the webinar. During the live broadcasts, participants received answers to the questions they asked via the live chat. Webinar participants also received a handy fact sheet with all the information in their inbox.

Until April 22, you can still register for the webinar on ‘Infringement and Opposition’. In this webinar, patent attorney Henri van Kalkeren provides insight into what is involved with opposition and infringement of your intellectual property. You can watch the webinars that have already taken place on our website:

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