- Patents Decree 26.9.1980/669 (Unofficial translation)(Amendments up to 2006/144 included)
- Patent Application and Record of Applications
- Priority
- Claims
- Description
- Abstract
- Amendments to Applications
- Division and Separation
- Availability to the Public
- Processing of Patent Applications
- Grant of a Patent
- Opposition
- Patent Register
- Receiving Office for International Patent Applications
- Transmitting International Patent Applications to the International Bureau
- Pursuing International Patent Applications
- Supplementary Protection Certificates
- Converting European Patent Applications into National Applications
- Record to be kept of European Patent Applications
- Translating European Patents and European Patent Applications
Patents Decree 26.9.1980/669 (Unofficial translation)
(Amendments up to 2006/144 included)
Patent Application and Record of Applications
Section 1
Finnish patent applications shall be filed with the National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland (the Patent Office).
International applications designating Finland shall be filed with an authority or international organization that is a receiving Office authorized under the Patent Cooperation Treaty done at
Washington on June 19, 1970, and its Regulations. Sections 45 to 51 contain provisions on the Patent Office acting as a receiving Office.
The provisions in this Decree concerning patent applications shall only apply, unless otherwise specified, to:
(1) Finnish patent applications;
(2) international patent applications pursued in Finland under Section 31 of the Patents Act or accepted for examination under Section 38 of that Act; and
(3) European patent applications converted into national applications under Section 70 s of
the Patents Act. (15.2.1996/104)
Section 2 (13.7.2000/674)
Finnish patent applications shall consist of an application document and accompanying documents.
The application document shall be signed by the applicant or his representative and shall state:
(1) the name, domicile and address of the applicant and, if the applicant has appointed a representative, the name, domicile and address of the representative;
(2) the name and address of the inventor;
(3) a concise and factual title for the invention to which the application relates;
(4) if a patent is applied for by several persons jointly, a statement as to which of them is entitled or, if they have appointed a representative, whom they have jointly authorised to receive communications from the Patent Office on behalf of all applicants;
(5) a statement, where appropriate, that the application includes a deposit of a biological material under Section 8a of the Patents Act; and
(6) a list of the documents accompanying the application document.
The following documents shall accompany the application document:
(1) a description of the invention together with the drawings, if any, needed to understand the invention, claims and an abstract;
(2) if the applicant is not the inventor or has not made the invention on his own, a statement establishing the applicant's title to the invention.
The representative appointed by the applicant has to prove his authorisation, unless the representative has been given authorisation in the application document.
The prescribed application fee shall be paid when filing an application.
Section 3
If the document is not written in one of the languages laid down by the fifth paragraph of Section 8 of the Patents Act, the applicant shall also submit to the Patent Office a translation of the document into Finnish or Swedish. For a document other than a description, an abstract or claims or for the text of the description or claims of a Finnish application not included in the basic documents under the first paragraph of Section 2l, the Patent Office may waive the requirement for a translation or may accept a translation into a language other than Finnish or Swedish.
The Patent Office may take up an application for processing before a translation thereof into one of the languages laid down by the first paragraph has been submitted. The translation has to be submitted before the application under Section 22 of the Patents Act becomes available to the public. The Patent Office shall specify the prerequisites under which the application is taken up for processing before the translation has been submitted. (21.3.1997/246)
Section 4
Subsections 1-3 have been repealed (13.7.2000/674).
Regulations on further requirements concerning the form of the documents and the number of copies to be filed with the Patent Office by the applicant shall be given by the Patent Office.
Section 5
To obtain a novelty search as referred to in Section 9 of the Patents Act, the applicant shall make a written request within three months of the filing date of the application or, where applicable, of the date on which it is deemed to have been filed, to the Patent Office and shall pay the fee prescribed by the Searching Authority. Where the application is not drawn up in a language acceptable to the Searching Authority, the request shall be accompanied by a translation of the application into a language prescribed by the Patent Office.
If the search referred to in the first paragraph can be carried out by more than one authority and if the applicant wishes to specify which of such authorities is to carry out the search, he shall name that authority in his request.
The request shall be deemed withdrawn if, on expiration of the time limit laid down in the first paragraph, the application and the translation do not satisfy the formal requirements for an international application.
Section 6
The Patent Office shall enter on the application the date on which it was received at the Patent Office.
Section 7
The Patent Office shall keep a record of patent applications filed. The record shall be accessible to the public.
The following particulars must be entered in the record for each application:
(1) the serial number in the record of the application and the classes in which the application has been classified;
(2) the name of the examiner processing the application;
(3) the name, domicile and address of the applicant;
(4) if the applicant has appointed a representative, the name, domicile and address of the representative;
(5) the name and address of the inventor;
(6) the title of the invention;
(7) a statement as to whether the application is a Finnish patent application, an international patent application or a European patent application which has been converted into a national application; (15.2.1996/104)
(8) if the application is a Finnish patent application, the date of receipt and the date of filing; (16.2.2006/144)
(9) if the application is an international patent application, the international filing date and the date on which the application was pursued under Section 31 of the Patents Act or was filed under Section 38 of that Act;
(9a) if the application has been converted from a European patent application into a national application, the filing date in accordance with the European Patent Convention (Finnish Treaty Series 8/96) and the date on which the application was received by the Patent Office for conversion; (15.2.1996/104)
(10) if the priority of an earlier application is claimed, the country where the earlier application given as the basis for the priority was filed, the filing date of that application and its serial number;
(11) if the application results from division or separation, the serial number of the parent application;
(12) if a new application results from the division or separation of the application, the serial number of the application that has been divided or separated out;
(13) if the application has been made available to the public under the third paragraph of Section 22 of the Patents Act, the date on which it became available;
(14) where the application is an international application, the international application number;
(14a) if the application has been converted from a European patent application into a national
application, the application number of the European patent application; (15.2.1996/104)
(15) the documents filed and fees paid in respect of the application;
(16) decisions taken in respect of the application.
Section 8
The Patent Office prepares a weekly list of patent applications that have been filed. The list must contain for each application the particulars listed under items (1), (3), (5) to (11), (14) and (14a) of section 7(2).
Subsections 2 and 3 have been repealed (16.2.2006/144).