- Chapter 1 General Provisions
- Chapter 2 The Patent Application and Its Processing, Etc
- Section 7.
- Section 8.
- Section 8a.
- Section 8 b.
- Section 8 c.
- Section 9.
- Section 10.
- Section 11.
- Section 12.
- Section 13.
- Section 14.
- Section 15.
- Section 15 a.
- Section 16.
- Section 17.
- Section 18.
- Section 19.
- Section 20.
- Section 21.
- Section 22.
- Section 23.
- Section 24.
- Section 25.
- Section 26.
- Section 27.
- Chapter 3 International Patent Applications
- Chapter 4 The Extent and Duration of the Patent
- Chapter 5. Annual Fees
- Chapter 6. Licence, transfer, etc.
- Chapter 8. Obligation to Give Information about patents.
- Chapter 9. Provisions Concerning Legal Protection, etc.
- Chapter 9a. Prolonged Term of Protection for Medicinal Products
- Chapter 10. Provisions on Legal Proceedings
- Chapter 10 a. European Patents
- Chapter 11. Miscellaneous Provisions
The Norwegian Patents Act
This is an unofficial translation of the Norwegian Patents Act. Should there be any differences between this translation and
the athentic Norwegian text, the decision will be made on the basis of the authentic Norwegian text
Norwegian title: Lov om patenter.
(Act No. 9 of December 15, 1967, as amended by Acts No. 35 of June 8, 1979, No. 2 of February 8, 1980, No. 30 of May 24, 1985, No. 29 of June 14, 1991, No. 86 of June 26, 1992, No. 113 of November 27, 1992, No. 40 of June 24, 1994, No. 82 of December 22, 1995, No. 104 of December 20, 1996, No. 127 of December19, 2003 and No. 20 of May 7, 2004, No.80 of June 29, 2007.)
Entry into force (of last amending Act): January 1, 2008.
(The table of contents below is not a part of the Act. It has been included for the purposes of information.)
Chapter 1 General Provisions Sections 1-6. Section 1. Within any technical field, any person who has made an invention which is susceptible of industrial application, or his successor in title, shall, in accordance with this Act, have the right on application to be granted a patent for the invention and thereby obtain the exclusive right to exploit the invention commercially or operationally.
Subject matters not regarded as inventions include anything which merely consists of: Inventions may also constitute patentable inventions when they concern a product consisting of or containing biological material, or a process by means of which biological material is produced, processed or used. Biological material, which is isolated from its natural environment or produced by means of a technical process, may be the subject of an invention even if it already occurs in nature. Biological material means, for the purpose of this legal text, material that contains genetic information, and can reproduce itself or be reproduced in a biological system.
A patent cannot be granted in respect of plant or animal varieties. Inventions that concern plants or animals may, however, be patentable if usage of the patent is not technically limited to one particular plant or animal variety. The King may, by regulation, determine what should be considered a plant or an animal variety.
A patent cannot be granted for what are essentially biological processes to produce plants or animals. An essentially biological process means, for the purpose of this legal text, a process, which consists entirely of natural phenomena such as crossing or selection. A patent may, on the other hand, be granted for microbiological or other technical processes or for a product produced by such processes. A microbiological process means, for the purpose of this legal text, any process involving, performed upon or resulting in the production
of microbiological material. A patent shall not be granted for methods for surgical or therapeutic treatment or diagnostic methods, practiced on humans or animals. Section 1 a. The human body, at all of the various stages of its formation and development, and the simple discovery of one of its An element which is isolated from the human body or otherwise produced by means of a technical process, including the sequence of a Section 1 b. Inventions shall be considered unpatentable where their commercial exploitation would be contrary to ordre public or morality. Section 2. Patents shall be granted only for inventions which are new in relation to what was known before the filing date of the patent application, and which also differ essentially therefrom.
Everything made available to the public, either in writing, in lectures, by exploitation or otherwise, shall be considered as known. The contents of a patent application filed in this country before the said date shall also be considered as known if the application is made available to the public in accordance with the provisions of section 22. The requirement in the first paragraph that the invention shall differ essentially from what was known shall not apply in relation to the contents of such an application.
Applications referred to in Chapter 3 shall have the same effect as applications filed in this country in the cases indicated in sections 29 and 38.
The requirement in the first paragraph that the invention must be new in relation to what was known before the filing date of the patent application shall not prevent the grant of a patent for known substances or known compositions for use in the methods referred to in section 1, sixth paragraph, provided that the use of the substance or the composition of substances is not known in relation to any of those methods.
A patent may be granted despite the fact that the invention has been made available to the public within six months prior to the filing of the application: Section 3. The exclusive right conferred by a patent shall, with the exceptions referred to in the third paragraph, imply that no one but the patent holder may, without his consent, exploit the invention by: The exclusive right shall also imply that no one but the patent holder may, without his consent, exploit the invention by offering or supplying any person who is not entitled to exploit the invention in this country with the means for carrying out the invention, provided that the means relate to an essential element of the invention and the person supplying or offering the means knows, or it is obvious from the circumstances, that the means are suitable and intended for such exploitation. If the means are staple commodities, this provision shall only apply where the person offering or supplying the means attempts to induce the recipient to commit acts infringing the exclusive right provided for in the first paragraph. In relation to the provisions of this paragraph, persons exploiting the invention as referred to in the third paragraph, items 1, 3 or 4, shall not be considered entitled to exploit the invention.
The exclusive right shall not include: Section 3 a. The protection conferred by a patent on biological material possessing specific characteristics as a result of the invention shall extend to any biological material derived from that biological material through propagation or multiplication in an identical or divergent form and possessing those same characteristics.
The protection conferred by a patent on a process that enables biological material to be produced possessing specific characteristics as a result of the invention, shall extend to biological material directly obtained through that process and any other biological material derived from the directly obtained biological material through propagation or multiplication in an identical or divergent form and possessing those same characteristics.
The protection conferred by a patent on a product containing or consisting of genetic information shall extend to all material, save as provided in section 1 a, in which the product is incorporated and in which the genetic information is contained and performs its function.
The protection referred to in paragraphs 1-3 shall not extend to biological material obtained from the propagation or multiplication of biological material placed on the market within the EEA by the holder of the patent or with his consent, where the multiplication or propagation necessarily results from the application for which the biological material was marketed, provided that the material obtained is not subsequently used for other propagation or multiplication.
Section 3 b. If plant-propagating material is sold or transferred, with the consent of the patent holder, to a farmer for agriculture use this shall imply authorization for the farmer to use the product of his harvest for propagation or multiplication on his own farm notwithstanding section 3 a paragraphs 1-3.
If breeding stock or other animal reproductive material is sold or transferred, with the consent of the patent holder, to a farmer, the farmer shall have the right to use the protected animal or the reproductive material for an agriculture purpose on his own farm notwithstanding section 3a paragraphs 1-3. The last sentence does not provide the right to sell the material referred to as a component of or for the purpose of commercial reproductive activity.
The King may, by regulation, determine the conditions and the extent of the farmer’s rights according to this section.
Section 3 c. The protection conferred by a patent on biological material, which already exists in nature, shall only extend to the part of the material that is necessary for the industrial application specified in the patent application. It shall be evident from the patent application how the biological material may be used for industrial purposes.
Section 4. Anyone who, at the time when the patent application was filed, was exploiting the invention commercially in this country, may, notwithstanding the patent, continue the exploitation, whilst retaining its general character, provided that the exploitation does not constitute an evident abuse in relation to the applicant or his predecessor in title. Such right of exploitation shall also, on similar conditions, be enjoyed by anyone who had made substantial preparations for commercial exploitation of the invention in this country.
The right provided for in the first paragraph may only be transferred to others in conjunction with the enterprise in which it has arisen or in which the exploitation was intended.
Section 5. An invention may, notwithstanding a patent, be utilized on a foreign vehicle, vessel or aircraft in connection with the use of such means of transportation during their temporary or accidental stay in this country.
Where a foreign country grants similar rights in respect of Norwegian aircraft, the King may provide that, notwithstanding a patent, spare parts and accessories for aircraft may be imported into and used in this country for the repair of aircraft belonging to that country.
Section 6. A patent application for an invention which has been disclosed not earlier than 12 months before the filing date in an application for a patent in this country or for a patent, an inventor's certificate or utility model protection in a foreign country party to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property of March 20, 1883, shall, for the purposes of section 2, first, second and fourth paragraphs, and section 4, be deemed to have been filed on the same date as the earlier application, if the applicant so requests. The King may issue regulations prescribing that applications which are not filed in a State party to the Paris Convention may also form the basis for priority as mentioned in the first sentence.
The King shall prescribe the particulars concerning the right to claim priority as referred to above.
Section 7. The patent authority of this country is the Norwegian Industrial Property Office.
Section 8. An application for a patent shall be filed in writing with the Norwegian Industrial Property Office or, in the cases referred to in Chapter 3, with a patent authority or an international organization as referred to in section 28.
The application shall contain a description of the invention, including drawings where necessary, and a precise statement of the subject matter for which protection by the patent is sought (patent claims). The fact that the invention relates to a chemical compound shall not imply that a specific use must be disclosed in the claim. The description shall be sufficiently clear to enable a person skilled in the art to carry out the invention on the basis thereof. An invention which relates to or uses biological material, in the cases referred to in section 8a, only be considered to be disclosed in a sufficiently clear manner if the requirements of section 8a are also complied with.
The application shall also contain an abstract of the description and patent claims. The abstract shall merely serve as technical information and may not be taken into account for any other purpose.
The inventor shall be identified by name in the application. If a patent is applied for by someone other than the inventor, the application shall contain a declaration from the applicant stating his right to the invention. If the Norwegian Industrial Property Office finds reason to doubt the applicant's right to the invention, the right can be required proven.
The applicant shall pay the prescribed application fee. A prescribed annual fee shall also be paid for every fee year beginning before the application is finally decided upon.
A fee year in accordance with this Act comprises one year and shall be reckoned the first time from the day on which the application was filed and thereafter from the corresponding day of the calendar year.
Section 8a. If, when carrying out an invention, this involves the use of biological material which is not available to the public and cannot be described in the application documents in such a manner as to enable a person skilled in the art to carry out the invention on the basis thereof, a sample of the biological material shall be deposited not later than on the date of filing of the application. The sample shall thereafter always be deposited so that anyone who under this Act is entitled to be furnished with a sample of the biological material should be furnished with a sample in Norway. The King shall decree where deposits may be made.
If a deposited culture of a microorganism ceases to be viable or a sample of the culture cannot be furnished for other reasons, it may be replaced by a new culture of the same microorganism within the prescribed time limit and on the other conditions laid down by the King. In that case, the new deposit shall be deemed to have been made on the date that the previous deposit was made.
Section 8 b. If an invention concerns or uses biological material, the patent application shall include information on the country from which the inventor collected or received the material (the providing country). If it follows from the national law in the providing country that access to biological material shall be subject to prior consent, the application shall state whether such consent has been obtained.
If the providing country is not the same as the country of origin of the biological material, the application shall also state the country of origin. The country of origin means the country from which the material was collected from its natural environment. If the national law in the country of origin requires that access to biological material shall be subject to prior consent, the application shall state whether such consent has been obtained. If the information set out in this subsection is not known, the applicant shall state that.
The duty to disclose information under the first and second paragraphs applies even where the inventor has altered the structure of the received material. The duty to disclose information does not apply to biological material derived from the human body.
Breach of the duty to disclose information is subject to penalty in accordance with the General Civil Penal Code § 166. The duty to disclose information is without prejudice to the processing of patent applications or the validity of rights arising from granted patents.
Section 8 c. If an invention concerns or uses biological material from the human body, the patent application shall include information on whether the person from whom the material has been derived has given his/her consent to the use of the biological material, in accordance with the law of 21st February 2003 no 12 about bio banks.
Breach of the duty to disclose information is subject to penalty in accordance with the General Civil Penal Code § 166. The duty to disclose information is without prejudice to the processing of patent applications or the validity of rights arising from granted patents.
Section 9. If the applicant so requests and pays the prescribed fee, the Norwegian Industrial Property Office shall, on conditions laid down by the King, allow the application to be subjected to a novelty search by an International Searching Authority as referred to in Article 15(5) of the Patent Cooperation Treaty, done at Washington on June 19,1970.
Section 10. A patent for two or more mutually independent inventions may not be applied for in the same application.
Section 11. If patent is sought for an invention disclosed in a patent application previously filed by the applicant, but not yet decided upon, the later application shall, at the request of the applicant and on conditions laid down by the King, be considered as filed on the date on which the documents disclosing the invention were received by the Norwegian Industrial Property Office.
Section 12. An applicant who is not a resident of this country shall have a representative domiciled in this country who can represent him in all matters concerning the application.
Section 13. A patent application must not be amended in such a way that protection is claimed for subject matter which was not disclosed in the application at the time it was filed.
Section 14. (Repealed by Act No. 104 of December 20, 1996.)
Section 15. If the applicant has not complied with the prescribed requirements with respect to the application, or if the Norwegian Industrial Property Office finds other obstacles to the acceptance of the application, the applicant shall be notified to that effect and be invited to submit observations or to correct the application within a specified time limit. However, the Norwegian Industrial Property Office may make such amendments in the abstract as found necessary without consulting the applicant.
If the applicant fails, within the time limit, to submit observations or to take steps to correct a defect which has been pointed out, the application shall be shelved. Information to that effect shall be given in the notification from the Norwegian Industrial Property Office referred to in the first paragraph.
However, the processing of the application shall be resumed if the applicant submits observations or takes steps to make corrections for resumption of the processing within four months from the expiration of the said time limit. The prescribed fee shall be paid.
If the annual fee referred to in sections 8, 41 and 42 is not paid, the application shall be shelved without prior notification. The processing of an application which has been shelved for this reason cannot be resumed.
Section 15 a. If the Norwegian Industrial Property Office is in doubt whether a patent should be granted or refused based on section 1 b, the Norwegian Industrial Property Office shall obtain an advisory statement from an ethics committee appointed by the King, before making a decision. The ethics committee shall give their advisory statement within three months of receiving the request. The King may, by regulation, determine specific rules for the committee’s procedures.
Section 16. If, subsequent to the receipt of the applicant's reply, the Norwegian Industrial Property Office still finds an obstacle to the acceptance of the application, and the applicant has been given an opportunity to comment on the obstacle, the application shall be refused, unless the Norwegian Industrial Property Office finds that further correspondence is required.
Section 17. If anyone claims before the Norwegian Industrial Property Office that he, and not the applicant, is entitled to the invention, the Norwegian Industrial Property Office may, if the question is found doubtful, invite the party concerned to bring the matter before the courts of law within a specified time limit, whilst drawing to his attention that if he does not comply with this requirement, his claim may be disregarded in the further processing of the case.
If an action has been brought with respect to the question of the right to the invention, the processing of the patent application may be suspended until the courts have reached a final decision on the question.
Section 18. If anyone proves to the satisfaction of the Norwegian Industrial Property Office that he, and not the applicant, is entitled to the invention, the Norwegian Industrial Property Office shall, instead of refusing the application for that reason, transfer it to him if he so requests. The transferee shall pay a new application fee.
If a request has been made for transfer of a patent application, the application shall not be shelved, refused or accepted until a final decision has been made with respect to the request.
Section 19.If the application complies with the prescribed requirements and there are no obstacles to the grant of a patent, the applicant shall be notified that a patent may be granted.
Subsequent to the applicant having been notified that a patent may be granted, the patent claims may not be amended so as to extend the scope of the patent protection.
Section 20. The applicant shall pay the prescribed fee for grant within two months from being notified by the Norwegian Industrial Property Office that a patent may be granted. Failure to do so will result in the application being shelved. However, the processing of the application shall be resumed if the applicant pays the said fee as well as the prescribed fee for the resumption of the processing of the application within four months from the expiration of the time limit.
If the applicant is the inventor and if, within two months from the mailing of the notification that a patent may be granted, he requests exemption from payment of the fee for grant, the Norwegian Industrial Property Office may grant such exemption if the payment of the fee shall cause considerable difficulties for the applicant. If the request for exemption is
refused, payment of the fee within two months from the refusal shall be considered as payment in due time.
Section 21. When the fee for grant under section 20 has been paid or exemption from payment of such fee has been granted, the application shall be accepted provided that there are still no obstacles to the grant of a patent. A notice of the decision shall be published.
When a notice of the decision to accept the application has been published, the patent is granted.
Simultaneously with the grant of the patent, the Norwegian Industrial Property Office shall publish a patent specification. The patent specification shall include a description, patent claims, an abstract, and the names of the patent holder and the inventor.
When the patent is granted, a letters patent shall be issued.
Patents granted shall be entered in the Register of Patents kept by the Norwegian Industrial Property Office. Anyone shall be entitled to examine the Register of Patents, to obtain certified extracts there from and to obtain copies of patent applications which have been made available to the public according to section 22.
Section 22. All documents of the application shall be made available to the public as of the date on which the patent was granted.
When 18 months have passed from the filing date of the application or, if priority under section 6 has been claimed, from the date from which priority is claimed, the documents shall be made available to the public even if a patent has not yet been granted. However, if the application has been shelved or refused, the documents shall not be made available to the public unless the applicant requests resumption of the processing of the application, appeals against the refusal or requests re-establishment of rights under sections 72 or 73.
At the applicant's request, the application documents shall be made available to the public earlier than prescribed in the first or second paragraph.
When the documents become available to the public under the second or third paragraph, a notice to that effect shall be published by the Norwegian Industrial Property Office.
If a document contains trade secrets which do not relate to an invention for which patent has been sought or granted, the Norwegian Industrial Property Office may, upon request and where there are special circumstances which make it desirable, decide that the document shall not be made available to the public. If such request has been submitted, the document shall not be made available to the public until the request has been refused by a final decision in accordance with section 26, fourth paragraph.
Proposals, drafts, memoranda and other similar working documents prepared by the Norwegian Industrial Property Office in connection with the processing of an application shall not be available to the public, unless the Norwegian Industrial Property Office so decides.
If a sample of biological material has been deposited according to section 8a, anyone has the right to be furnished with a sample of the material when the documents of the application have been made available in accordance with the first, second or third paragraph. After a patent has been granted anyone who requests a sample of the material shall be furnished with a sample, even if the patent has been determined or annulled. This does not mean, however, that a sample shall be issued to anyone who in consequence of a law or regulation is not entitled to handle the deposited material. Moreover, the provision of the first sentence does not mean that a sample shall be issued to anyone whose handling of the sample must be assumed to involve considerable risk due to the harmful properties of the material.
Until a patent has been granted or the application has been finally decided upon without a patent having been granted, the applicant may, notwithstanding the provisions of the seventh paragraph, request that a sample only be issued to a specially appointed expert. If the patent application has been refused or withdrawn the same rule applies for a sentence of 20 years from the date when the patent application was filed. The King shall prescribe a time limit for submitting a claim to limit issuing of the materail and shall determine who may be appointed as an expert.
A request for the issue of a sample shall be made in writing to the Norwegian Industrial Property Office and must contain a declaration to the effect that the restrictions laid down by the King concerning the use of the sample will be observed. If the sample may only be issued to a specially appointed expert, the declaration shall be made by the expert instead.
Section 23. If an application which is available to the public is shelved or refused, a notice of this decision shall be published when it is final.
Table of Contents
Chapter 2 The Patent Application and its processing, etc Sections 7-27.
Chapter 3 International Patent Applications Sections 28-38.
Chapter 4 The Extent and Duration of the Patent Sections 39-40.
Chapter 5 Annual Fees Sections 41-42.
Chapter 6 Licence, Transfer etc Sections 43-50.
Chapter 7 Termination of the Patent etc Sections 51-55.
Chapter 8 Obligation to Give Information about Patents Section 56.
Chapter 9 Provisions concerning Legal Protection etc Sections 57-62.
Chapter 9a Prolonged Term of Protection for Medicinal Products Sections 62a-62b.
Chapter 10 Provisions on Legal Proceedings Sections 63-66.
Chapter 10a European Patents Sections 66a-66m
Chapter 11 Miscellaneous Provisions Sections 67-76.
Entry into Force and Transitional Provisions. Section 77.
Chapter 1 General Provisions
This provision shall not prevent the grant of patents for products, including substances and compositions of substances, for use in
such methods.
elements, including the sequence or partial sequence of a gene, cannot constitute patentable inventions.
gene, may constitute a patentable invention, even if the structure of that element is identical to that of a naturally existing element.
Such exploitation shall not be deemed so contrary merely because it is prohibited by law or regulation.
On the basis of the first paragraph the following, in particular, shall not be patentable
falling within the terms of the Convention on International Exhibitions, done at Paris on November 22, 1928.
product for such purposes.
Chapter 2 The Patent Application and Its Processing, Etc.