- Chapter 1. National Patent Applications
- Section 1. Formal Requirements
- Section 2. Contents of the Application
- Section 3. Filing Date
- Section 4. Basic Documents
- Section 5. Language Requirements
- Section 6. Patent Claims
- Section 7. Several Patent Claims
- Section 8. Unity
- Section 9. The Description
- Section 10. Drawings
- Section 11. Abstract
- Section 12. Deposit of Biological Material etc
- Chapter 2. Priority
- Section 13. Application Priority
- Section 14. Requirements for Application Priority
- Section 15. Priority for an Application Comprising a Plurality of Inventions
- Section 16. Relationship between the Priority Document and the Basic Documents
- Section 17. Applications Filed in a State that Is not a Party to the Paris Convention or the WTO Agreement
- Chapter 3. Provisions on Representation
- Chapter 4. Amendments to the Application
- Chapter 5. Division of and Separation from Applications
- Chapter 6. Right of Access to Inspect the Documents of the Case. Issue of Samples of Biological Material
- Chapter 7. The Processing of Applications
- Section 27. Classification
- Section 28. Novelty Search
- Section 29. Novelty Search by an International Searching Authority
- Section 30. Written Opinion from Another Searching Authority
- Section 31. Statement of Publications
- Section 32. Model, Sample or the Like
- Section 33. Postponement of the Grant of a Patent
- Section 34. Patent Specification
- Section 35. Protest
- Chapter 8. Opposition, Administrative Patent Limitation and Administrative Review
- Chapter 9. The Register of Patents, etc.
- Chapter 10. Publications
- Section 46. Publication of Information Available to the Public
- Section 47. Publication of the Grant of Patent
- Section 48. Publication of Filed Oppositions
- Section 49. Publication of a Final Decision in Opposition Procedure
- Section 50. Publication of Administrative Patent Limitation
- Section 51. Publication of Request for Administrative Review
- Section 52. Publication of Decision in Administrative Review Proceedings
- Section 53. Publication of Supplementary Protection Certificate
- Section 54. Publication of Changed Period of Validity for Supplementary Protection Certificate
- Section 55. Publication of European Applications and European Patents, etc.
- Section 56. Publication of a Decision on Re-establishment of Rights despite a Failure to Meet a Time Limit
- Section 57. Other Publications
- Chapter 11. European Patents
- Section 58. Filing of European Applications
- Section 59. Translation of European Applications and Patents
- Section 60. Correction of Translation in accordance with Section 66 j of the Patents Act
- Section 61. Request for Conversion into a National Application
- Section 62. Forwarding of a Converted European Application to the Norwegian Industrial Property Office
- Section 63. Basic Documents for a Converted European Application
- Section 64. Abstract for a Converted European Application
- Chapter 12. International Patent Applications
- Section 65. The Norwegian Industrial Property Office as the Receiving Office
- Section 66. Filing of International Applications
- Section 67. Separate Register of International Applications
- Section 68. Priority Claim in International Applications
- Section 69. Priority Document
- Section 70. Information about Deposited Biological Material
- Section 71. Application of the Rules in the Regulations to International Applications
- Section 72. Language for Entry into the National Phase or Review of International Applications
- Section 73. Division of an International Application Comprising a Plurality of Inventions
- Section 74. Notice to the International Bureau
- Section 75. Abstract and Basic Documents for International Applications that Enter into the National Phase, etc.
- Section 76. Novelty Search of International Applications
- Section 77. Time Limit for the Date for First Decision on International Applications
- Section 78. Time Limit for Review in accordance with Section 38 of the Patents Act
- Chapter 13. Supplementary Protection Certificates
- Section 79. Definitions
- Section 80. Application for a Certificate
- Section 81. Amendments to an Application for a Certificate
- Section 82. The Norwegian Industrial Property Office’s Information about the Processing of the Application, etc
- Section 83. Contents of the Certificate
- Section 84. Request for Change of the Period of Validity
- Section 85. Right of Appeal
- Section 86. Legal Actions
- Section 87. Representative of the Certificate Holder
- Chapter 14. Definition of Plant Variety. The Agricultural Exemption
- Chapter 15. The Ethics Committee in Patent Cases
- Chapter 16. Compulsory Licence and Exhaustion
- Section 96. Request for a Compulsory Licence
- Section 97. Compulsory Licence to Manufacture and Export Products
- Section 98. Requirements for Compulsory Licence to Manufacture and Export Products
- Section 99. Notification of Grant of Compulsory Licence to Manufacture and Export Products
- Section 100. Limited Exhaustion for Medicinal Products Marketed in Individual EEA Member States
- Chapter 17. Miscellaneous Provisions
Regulations to the Norwegian Patents Act (The Patent Regulations)
This is an unofficial translation of the regulations to the Norwegian Patents Act. Should there be any differences between
this translation and the authentic Norwegian text, the decision will be made on the basis of the authentic Norwegian text.
Table of Contents
Regulations to the Norwegian Patents Act (The Patent Regulations) Regulations to the Norwegian Patents Act (The Patent Regulations)
Authority: Prescribed by Royal Decree of December 14, 2007 with authority in Act No. 9 of December 15, 1967 relating to Patents, etc., S. 1, Chapter 1. National Patent Applications
Section 1. Formal Requirements
A patent application shall be filed using a separate application form. The applicant shall fill in the form and appendices in printed letters. The application may be filed electronically in accordance with section 1 of the Regulations relating to fees, etc. to the Norwegian Industrial Property Office.
Section 2. Contents of the Application
The application shall contain the following: The application must be signed by the applicant or his representative. The signature may be hand-written, printed, stamped or electronic in accordance with the standard laid down by the Norwegian Industrial Property Office at any given time. If a patent is being applied for by another party than the inventor, the application shall contain a declaration from the applicant that the applicant has the right to the invention. The declaration shall state the basis for the applicant’s right to the invention.
Section 3. Filing Date
The application will be accorded a filing date even if the requirements in section 2 have not been complied with if the application contains a description of the invention and information that makes it possible to identify and contact the applicant or the applicant’s representative. If the application is filed electronically, it must be filed in a format accepted by the Norwegian Industrial Property Office.
If the Norwegian Industrial Property Office finds that it cannot accord a final filing date for the application because parts of the description, drawings or patent claims have not been supplied, the Norwegian Industrial Property Office shall immediately notify the applicant hereof and request that the deficiency be corrected within two months from when the notice was sent. The filing date for the application will be maintained if, within the above-mentioned time limit, or if no notice has been sent, within two months from when an application that complies with the requirements laid down in the first paragraph was filed, the applicant: Section 4. Basic Documents
The basic documents of the application consist of the description of the invention with accompanying drawings and patent claims supplied in Norwegian not later than on the date on which the application was filed or is to be deemed to have been filed. If the description with accompanying drawings and patent claims are not supplied in Norwegian on the above-mentioned date at the latest, the first description with accompanying patent claims that are subsequently supplied in Norwegian will be regarded as basic documents to the extent to which the contents hereof are clearly stated in the documents that were available when the application was filed.
Section 5. Language Requirements
The description, patent claims and abstract shall be drawn up in Norwegian. Other documents may be drawn up in Norwegian, Danish, Swedish or English. If the application or other documents are in another language, the Norwegian Industrial Property Office may request the applicant to supply a translation within a time limit stipulated by the Norwegian Industrial Property Office. The Norwegian Industrial Property Office may demand that the translation shall be certified by a state-authorised translator. If the applicant supplies an application without priority in Danish, Swedish or English, a translation into Norwegian must be supplied within 16 months from when the application was filed.
The Norwegian Industrial Property Office may approve another language than those specified in the first paragraph in each individual case.
Section 6. Patent Claims
A patent claim shall contain the following: In so far as possible, the invention shall be referred to one of the following categories: product, apparatus, process or use.
A patent claim shall not contain anything that is irrelevant to the invention disclosed therein or that is irrelevant to the exclusive right that the applicant is claiming.
Section 7. Several Patent Claims
A patent application may contain several patent claims. In such case, the patent claims shall be numbered.
One or several other claims may be attached to a patent claim.
A patent claim may be independent or dependent. Dependent claims are claims that relate to embodiments of an invention disclosed in another patent claim in the application and that therefore comprise all the characteristic features contained in that claim. Dependent claims shall be introduced with a reference to the previous claim(s) to which they are related.
The number of independent claims is limited to one independent claim in each category. Several independent claims within the same category may only be included if this concerns products or processes with mutual dependency, different inventive areas of application of a product or alternative solutions to a special problem. The Norwegian Industrial Property Office will decide whether inventions may be included in separate independent claims within the same category.
Section 8. Unity
In accordance with the rules of section 10 of the Patents Act, an application may only comprise a plurality of inventions if there is a technical relationship between the inventions. There is a technical relationship between the inventions if the inventions have one or more identical or similar special technical features in common. Special technical features are the features of each invention which define a contribution that each invention makes over and above the prior art.
The question of whether there is a technical relationship between a plurality of inventions shall be determined without regard to whether they are disclosed in separate claims or as alternatives within a single patent claim.
Section 9. The Description
The description shall only contain information and specifications that contribute to an understanding of the invention.
Biological material shall be described in accordance with the guidelines laid down by the Norwegian Industrial Property Office. For generally available biological material, information must be provided of how it can be obtained. The description of biological material in accordance with section 8a of the Patents Act shall contain all information of importance to the characteristic features of the biological material to which the applicant has access.
Section 10. Drawings
Drawings shall show the details that are necessary in order to understand the description.
Section 11. Abstract
The abstract shall contain a brief summary of the details contained in the patent claims, description and drawings in the basic documents. If the application contains drawings, the applicant shall state the figure that the applicant wishes to be published together with the abstract. If the applicant has not specified this, the Norwegian Industrial Property Office will choose the figure that is to be published.
Section 12. Deposit of Biological Material etc.
The deposit of biological material in accordance with section 8a, first paragraph, of the Patents Act shall be made in accordance with the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure of April 28, 1977. The material shall be deposited with an institution that is an international depositary institution in accordance with the Budapest Treaty or with an institution that has been approved by the European Patent Office.
When a sample of biological material has been deposited, the applicant shall notify the Norwegian Industrial Property Office in writing about the depositary institution with which the material has been deposited and the reference number that the institution in question has accorded the deposited material. The information shall be provided not later than 16 months after the filing date or, if priority has been claimed, the claimed priority date. If deposited biological material is transferred to another international depositary institution in pursuance of Rule 5
(1) of the Implementing Regulations to the Budapest Treaty, the applicant or the patent holder shall notify the Norwegian Industrial Property Office hereof and of the reference number that the institution has accorded the deposited material.
A new deposit of biological material in accordance with section 8a, second paragraph, of the Patents Act shall be made in accordance with the Budapest Treaty. The applicant or the patent holder shall notify the Norwegian Industrial Property Office of the new deposit of biological material and of the reference number that this institution has accorded the deposited material within four months from when the material was deposited or within the time limit stipulated in the second paragraph.
The Norwegian Industrial Property Office may demand a copy of the receipt that the depositary institution has issued as proof of the correctness of the information provided in accordance with the second and third paragraphs.
A request in accordance with section 22, eighth paragraph, of the Patents Act that samples of biological material shall only be issued to a specially appointed expert must be filed with the Norwegian Industrial Property Office not later than the day before the application becomes available to the public in accordance with section 22 of the Patents Act.
MINISTRY: MJ (Ministry of Justice and Police)
PUBLISHED: In 2007 pamphlet 12
ENTRY INTO FORCE: 2008-01-01
AMENDING: REG-1996-12-20-1162, REG-1996-12-23-1263
APPLIES TO: Norway
AUTHORITY: ACT-1967-12-15-9-S.1, ACT-1967-12-15-9-S.3, ACT-1967-12-15-9-S.3b , ACT-1967-12-15-9-S.5, ACT-1967-12-15-9-S.6,
ACT-1967-12-15-9-S.8a , ACT-1967-12-15-9-S.9, ACT-1967-12-15-9-S.11 , ACT-1967-12-15-9-S.15a, ACT-1967-1215-9-S.28 , ACT-1967SHORT TITLE: The Patent Regulations
PROMULGATED: 2007-12-14 at 15.30
REVISED: REFERENCE NO.: 2007-1138