- General Provisions
- Patent Applications and Processing
- International Patent Application
- Scope and Term of a Patent
- Annual Fees
- Assignment, Licences and Compulsory Licences
- Termination of the Patent
- Obligation to Provide Information
- and Court Proceedings
- Supplementary Protection Certificate for Medicinal Products
- European Patents and Applications for European Patents
- Special Provisions
de propriété intellectuelle
(Unofficial draft)
No. 550 of December 15, 1967, as amended by Acts No. 653/67 of 29 December 1967, No. 575/71 of 2 July 1971, No. 407/80 of 6 June 1980, No. 387/85 of 10 May 1985, No. 801/91 of 10 May 1991, No. 577/92 of 26 June 1992, No. 1034/92 of 13 November 1992, No. 1409/92 of 18 December 1992, No. 593/94 of 28 June 1994, No. 717/95 of 21 April 1995 and No. 1695/95 of 22 December 1995
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Sections Chapter 1 General Provisions
1. Anyone who has made an invention which is susceptible of industrial application, or his successor in title, shall be entitled, on application, to a patent and, thereby, to the exclusive right to exploit the invention commercially, in accordance with this Act.
The following, as such, shall not be regarded as inventions: (4) presentations of information. Likewise, methods for surgical or therapeutic treatment or diagnostic methods, practiced on humans or
animals, shall not be regarded as inventions. This provision shall not, however, preclude the grant of patents 2. Patents may only be granted 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. de propriété intellectuelle
Also the contents of a patent application filed in this country before said filing date shall be considered as known if that application becomes available to the public pursuant to Section 22. Likewise, the contents of a utility model application filed in this country before the filing date of the patent application shall be deemed to have become known if said application becomes available to the public pursuant to Section 18 of the Utility Model Act. The condition in the first paragraph that the invention must differ essentially from what was known before the filing date of the patent application, does not, however, apply in respect of the contents of such patent or utility model applications.
Applications referred to in Chapter 3 shall, for the purposes of the second paragraph, in certain cases have the same effect as patent applications filed in this country, pursuant to provisions laid down in Sections 29 and 38.
The provision in the first paragraph, requiring that an invention be new, shall not preclude the grant of patents for known substances or compositions for use in a method referred to in the third paragraph of Section 1, provided that the use of the substance or composition is not known for such method.
Patents may be granted, however, for inventions made available to the public within the six months preceding the filing date of the application if disclosure was the result of: 3. The exclusive right conferred by a patent shall imply, with the exceptions stated below, that no one may
exploit an invention, without the owner’s consent, by: or importing or possessing such product for these purposes. A patent shall also confer on its owner the exclusive right to prevent any person not having his consent from supplying or offering to supply any person not entitled to exploit the invention with the means of working the invention in this country in relation to an essential element of the invention where such other person knows, or where it is evident from the circumstances, that the means are suitable and intended for working the invention. This provision shall not apply where the means are staple commercial products, except where such other person attempts to induce the receiver to commit any of the acts referred to in the first paragraph of this Section. For the purposes of this paragraph, any person using the invention in a manner referred to in the third paragraph, item (1), (2) or (4), shall not be regarded as entitled to exploit the invention.
The exclusive right shall not apply to: 4. Any person who, at the time the patent application was filed, was commercially exploiting the invention in this country may continue to do so, notwithstanding the grant of a patent, provided that the general nature of such previous exploitation is maintained and 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 be afforded, subject to the same conditions, to any person who has made substantial preparations for commercial exploitation of the invention in this country.
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The right afforded under the first paragraph above can only be transferred to other parties together with the business in which it originated or in which exploitation was intended to take place. inventor’s certificate or utility model protection filed in another country party to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (Treaty Series 36/10 and 43/15) or the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (Finnish Treaty Series 5/95) shall be deemed, for the purposes of the first, second and fourth paragraphs of Section 2 and of Section 4, to have been filed at the same time as the earlier application if the applicant so requests. Such priority may also be enjoyed under an earlier application for protection filed in a country not party to the above agreements if the corresponding priority deriving from a Finnish application is granted in such country and if the laws of such country substantially conform to the above agreements.
The Government, or a patent authority appointed by the Government, shall lay down the manner in which priority claims shall be filed and the documents to be submitted in support of claims. Where such requirements are not satisfied, priority shall not be granted.
Chapter 2 Patent Applications and Processing Chapter 3, with the patent authority of another country or with an international organization. An application shall also contain an abstract of the description and claims. The abstract shall merely serve for use as technical information and may not be taken into account for any other purpose. The description, abstract and claims shall be written in Finnish or Swedish in compliance with the language The applicant shall pay the prescribed application fee. The prescribed annual fee shall also be paid for the application in respect of each year that has begun before a final decision is given on the application. A fee
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year shall be computed the first time from the day when the application was filed or is deemed to have been filed, and thereafter from the corresponding calendar day.
8 a. If the carrying out of the invention involves the use of a microorganism which is neither available to the public nor can be described in the application documents in such a manner as to enable a person skilled in the art to carry out the invention, a culture of the microorganism shall be deposited no later than the date of filing of the application. The culture shall be continuously on deposit thereafter so that any person entitled under this Act to a sample of the culture may have the sample furnished in Finland. The Government shall determine where deposits may be made.
If a deposited culture ceases to be viable or if samples of the culture cannot be furnished for other reasons, it may be replaced by a new culture of the same microorganism as prescribed by the Government. Once this has been done, the new deposit shall be deemed to have been made on the date of the previous deposit. If the applicant fails to file observations or take steps to correct the application within the period of time laid
down, the application shall be dismissed. The official action shall include a notice to that effect. A dismissed application may be reinstated if, within four months of the expiration of the time limit, the applicant files observations or takes steps to correct the application and, within the same period of time, pays the prescribed reinstatement fee.
If the applicant fails to pay the annual fee under Sections 8, 41 and 42, the application shall be dismissed without official notification. Applications dismissed for such reason may not be reinstated.
16. If, after the applicant has filed his observations, there still remains an obstacle to acceptance of the application which the applicant has had an opportunity to comment on, the application shall be rejected, unless there is reason to issue a further official notification to the applicant.
de propriété intellectuelle Opposition must be filed with the Patent Authority in writing within three months of the date of the
announcement. 22. The application documents shall be available to the public as from the date on which the application is laid open for public inspection. At the request of the applicant, the documents may be made available earlier than provided in the first and the second paragraphs of this Section. If a document contains business secret and if such secret does not concern the invention for which a patent is sought, the Patent Authority may, on request and if good reason is given, order that the document shall not be made available, either in whole or in part. Where such request is made, the document shall not be made available until the request has been refused by a final decision.
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Where the culture of a microorganism has been deposited under Section 8a, any person shall have the right to obtain a sample of the culture once the documents have become available to the public under the first, second or third paragraph. However, this shall not mean that samples will be issued to any person not allowed by law or other rules to handle the deposited microorganism. It shall also not imply that samples may be issued to any person whose handling of the sample can be assumed to involve an obvious risk in view of the harmful properties of the microorganism.
Notwithstanding the provision in the first sentence of the sixth paragraph, samples of a deposit shall be issued only to a special expert, if the applicant so requests, until the patent application has been laid open for public inspection or a final decision has been taken without it being laid open for public inspection. The Government shall lay down the time limits for making such request and determine who may be called as an expert by a person wishing to obtain a sample.
A person wishing to obtain a sample shall submit a request in writing to the Patent Authority and give an undertaking in the terms laid down by the Government to prevent misuse of the sample. Where samples may be issued to a special expert only, the undertaking must be given by such expert. A decision rejecting a request for reinstatement under the third paragraph of Section 15 or the first paragraph of Section 20 or decisions granting a request for transfer of an application under Section 18 may be appealed from by the applicant. Decisions rejecting a request for transfer of an application under Section 18 may be appealed from by the person making the request.
Decisions rejecting a request for an order under the fifth paragraph of Section 22 may be appealed from by the applicant who made the request. Chapter 3 International Patent Application
28. “An international application” shall mean an application made under the Patent Cooperation Treaty.
International applications shall be filed with a patent authority or an international organization (receiving Office) authorized under the Patent Cooperation Treaty and its Regulations to receive such applications. The
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receiving Office in Finland shall be the National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland, as laid down by Government decree. Applicants filing an international application in Finland shall pay the prescribed fee. Sections 29 to 38 apply to international applications in which Finland is designated. Where an applicant has requested that the international application be the subject of an international preliminary examination, and if within 19 months of the date referred to in the first paragraph of this Section he had stated his intention under the Patent Cooperation Treaty and its Regulations to use the results of the international preliminary examination in applying for a patent for Finland, he shall comply with the requirements of the first paragraph within 30 months of that date.
If the applicant has paid the prescribed fee within the time limit laid down in the first or second paragraph, the required translation or a copy of the application may be filed within a further period of two months, provided the prescribed additional fee is paid within that same period.
If the applicant does not satisfy the requirements of this Section, the application shall be deemed withdrawn as far as Finland is concerned. The applicant shall not be required to appoint a representative domiciled in Finland under Section 12 until
examination of the application begins. The second and third paragraphs of Section 22 shall take effect even before the application has been pursued, once the applicant has complied with the requirement under Section 31 to file a translation of the application or, if the application is in Finnish or Swedish, once the applicant has filed a copy of the application with the Patent Authority.
For the purposes of Sections 48, 56 and 60, the international application is deemed to have become available
to the public once the applicant has fulfilled the obligations under the third paragraph. Where the application satisfies the requirements as to form and contents laid down by the Patent Cooperation Treaty and its Regulations, it shall be accepted in that respect.
34. An international application shall not be accepted for laying open to public inspection nor be rejected before expiration of the time limit laid down by the Government, unless the applicant agrees to an earlier ruling on the application.
de propriété intellectuelle on which he receives notification of the Patent Authority’s decision. Where the Patent Authority considers
the decision to have been incorrect, it shall proceed with examination of the application in its entirety. The applicant may appeal against a decision taken under the first paragraph in those cases where the Patent Authority has found that the application includes independent inventions. The first and second paragraphs of Section 25 shall apply mutatis mutandis.
Where the appeal authority upholds the decision of the Patent Authority, the time limit for payment of the fee referred to in the second sentence of the first paragraph above shall be computed as from the date on which the decision of the appeal authority becomes final. A request for review under the first paragraph shall be filed with the International Bureau within the time limit laid down by the Government. Within that same time limit, the applicant shall file with the Patent Authority a translation of the application, to the extent prescribed by the Government, and shall pay the prescribed application fee.
Where the Patent Authority finds that the decision by the receiving Office or by the International Bureau was incorrect, it shall examine the application as provided in Chapter 2. If the receiving Office has not accorded an international filing date, the application shall be deemed to have been filed on the date that the Patent Authority considers should have been accorded as the international filing date. Where the application satisfies the requirements as to form and contents laid down by the Patent Cooperation Treaty and its Regulations, it shall be accepted in that respect.
The second sentence of the second paragraph of Section 2 shall apply to applications accepted for examination under the third paragraph of this Section if the application is made available to the public under Section 22.
Chapter 4 Scope and Term of a Patent de propriété intellectuelle
A prescribed annual fee shall be payable for the patent in respect of each fee year beginning after the grant. If a patent is granted before annual fees for the application have become due under Section 41, the owner of the patent shall also be required to pay annual fees for the fee years beginning prior to the grant of the patent, at the time the annual fee for the patent becomes due for the first time.
Chapter 5 Annual Fees
41. The annual fee shall be payable on the last day of the calendar month during which the fee year begins. The annual fees for the first two years, however, shall not become payable until the fee for the third fee year is due. Annual fees may not be paid earlier than six months before the due date.
For a later application under Section 11, the annual fees for fee years which have begun before the filing date of the later application, or which begin within two months of that date, shall in no event become due before two months have elapsed since such date. The annual fees for an international application in respect of fee years which have begun before the date on which the application was pursued under Section 31 or was taken up for processing under Section 38 or which begin within two months of such date shall in no event become due before two months have elapsed following the date on which the application was pursued or otherwise prosecuted.
Annual fees, together with prescribed additional fees, shall be payable within the six months following the due date.
42. Where the applicant or owner of the patent is the inventor and if he experiences serious difficulty in paying the annual fees, the Patent Authority may grant him respite in respect of payment if he makes a corresponding request no later than the date on which annual fees become due for the first time. Respite may be granted for up to three years at a time, but at most up to the third year that has elapsed following grant of the patent.
A request for prolongation of respite must be made before the existing respite has expired.
If the request for respite or prolongation of respite is refused, any fee paid within two months of refusal shall be deemed to have been paid on time. The annual fees for which respite of payment has been granted under the first paragraph may be paid
together with the additional fee prescribed in the third paragraph of Section 41 within the six months following the date up to which respite was granted.
Chapter 6 Assignment, Licences and Compulsory Licences same shall apply if a patent has been given as security. The first and second paragraphs shall apply mutatis mutandis to compulsory licences and to rights under the second paragraph of Section 53. If a person acting in good faith has requested the Patent Authority to record in the Register that a patent has been assigned to him or that he has obtained a licence under a patent or a mortgage in a patent, prior
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assignment of the patent for rights therein shall not be enforceable against him if the other party has not previously requested registration as the assignee or holder of rights in the patent. Chapter 7 Termination of the Patent de propriété intellectuelle had been approved for laying open to public inspection. A patent may not be declared invalid on the grounds that the owner of the patent was entitled to a part of the patent only.
Legal proceedings may also be instituted, with the exception laid down in the fourth paragraph of this Section, by any person who suffers prejudice on account of the patent or by a public authority appointed by the Government for reasons of public interest.
Proceedings instituted on the grounds that a patent has been granted to a person other than the person entitled to it under the provisions of Section 1 may only be instituted by the person claiming entitlement to the patent. Such proceedings shall be brought within one year after the entitled person gained knowledge of the grant of the patent and of any other circumstances on which the proceedings are founded. Proceedings may not be instituted more than three years after the grant of the patent where the owner of the patent acted in good faith at the time the patent was granted or assigned to him.
53. Where a patent has been granted to a person other than the person entitled to the patent under Section 1 and where proceedings are instituted by that entitled party, the court shall transfer the patent to that party. The fourth paragraph of Section 52 shall apply with respect to the time limit within which proceedings shall be instituted.
Where the person deprived of the patent had, in good faith, begun commercial exploitation of the invention in this country or had made substantial preparation for exploitation, he shall be entitled, against reasonable remuneration and on other reasonable terms, to continue the exploitation already begun or to commence the intended exploitation, provided that its general nature is maintained. Subject to the same conditions, a holder of a licence recorded in the Patent Register shall have the same rights.
Rights under the second paragraph of this Section may only be transferred to third parties together with the Chapter 8 Obligation to Provide Information
56. An applicant who invokes his patent application against another person before the documents in the application file have become available under Section 22 shall be required, on request, to allow such person to have access to the documents. If the patent application includes the deposit of a culture of a microorganism under Section 8a, such consent shall also include the right to obtain a sample of the culture. The second and third sentences of the sixth paragraph and the seventh and eighth paragraphs of Section 22 shall apply in the event of a person wishing to obtain a sample on the basis of such consent.
Any person who indicates in addressing himself directly to other persons or in announcements or by markings on goods or their packaging or in any other way that a patent has been applied for or granted, without at the same time indicating the number of the application or the patent, shall be required, on request, to furnish such number without delay. Where it is not explicitly stated that a patent has been applied for or granted, but the circumstances are such as to create the impression that this is the case, information as to whether a patent has been applied for or granted shall be given on request without delay.
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57. The court may forbid any person who infringes the exclusive right afforded by a patent (patent
infringement) from continuing or repeating the act. Where such person intentionally infringes a patent, he shall, unless the act is punishable as an industrial property right offence under Section 2 of Chapter 49 of the Penal Code, be liable to a fine for a violation of a patent right. Indictment for this offence may only be brought by the Public Prosecutor at the request of the injured party.
57 a. If a patent has been granted for a process for obtaining a product, any identical product produced without the consent of the owner of the patent shall, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be deemed to have been obtained by the patented process.
In the adduction of proof to the contrary, the legitimate interests of defendants in protecting their manufacturing and business secrets shall be taken into account.
58. Any person who intentionally or negligently infringes a patent shall be liable to pay reasonable compensation for the exploitation of the invention and damages for other injury caused by the infringement. In the case of slight negligence, the compensation may be adjusted accordingly.
A person found guilty of patent infringement that is neither intentional nor negligent shall pay compensation
for the exploitation of the invention if and to the extent held reasonable. Patents Act
Chapter 1: General Provisions ....................................................................................... 1 to 6 Chapter 2: Patent Applications and Processing ............................................................. 7 to 27 Chapter 3: International Patent Applications ................................................................. 28 to 38 Chapter 4: Scope and Term of Patents........................................................................... 39 and 40 Chapter 5: Annual Fees ................................................................................................. 41 and 42 Chapter 6: Assignment, Licence and Compulsory Licence ........................................... 43 to 50 Chapter 7: Termination of Patent................................................................................... 51 to 55 Chapter 8: Obligation to Furnish Information ............................................................... 56 Chapter 9: Infringement and Compensation; Court Proceedings................................... 57 to 70 Chapter 10: Special Provisions........................................................................................ 71 to 76 Entry into Force and Transitional Provisions (Extract)
for products, including substances and compositions, for use in any of these methods.
Patents shall not be granted for:
Everything made available to the public in writing, in lectures, by public use or otherwise shall be
considered as known.
The application shall contain a description of the invention, together with drawings where necessary, and a
precise statement of the subject matter for which patent protection is sought (one or more claims). The fact
that the invention relates to a chemical compound shall not mean that a specific use must be disclosed in the
claim. The description shall be sufficiently clear to enable a person skilled in the art, with the guidance
thereof, to carry out the invention. An invention relating to a microbiological process or to a product thereof
shall be regarded, in the cases referred to in Section 8a, as disclosed with sufficient clarity only if the
requirements set out in that Section are also satisfied.
The inventor’s name shall be stated in the application. If a patent is applied for by a person other than the
inventor, the applicant shall be required to prove his title to the invention.
laws in force. If the abstract and the claims are written in one only of the two national languages, the Patent
Authority shall have the abstract and the claims translated into the other national language before the
application is made available to the public under the second paragraph of Section 22. The applicant shall
pay the prescribed translation fee. Where the applicant is a foreigner, the description shall be written in
Finnish and the abstract and the claims in Finnish and Swedish. However, all applicants shall be entitled to
write the description, abstract and claims in both languages.
down by Government decree, arrange for a novelty search by the International Searching Authority under
Article 15(5) of the Patent Cooperation Treaty done at Washington on June 19, 1970.
in the same application.
which no final decision has been given, the later application shall, at the request of the applicant and on the
conditions laid down by the Government, be deemed to have been filed at the time the documents disclosing
the invention were filed with the Patent Authority.
country to represent him in all matters concerning the application.
disclosed in the application at the time it was filed or at the time it was deemed to have been filed under
Section 14.
A request under the first paragraph must be made within two years from the filing date of the application.
Such request may be made once only and cannot be withdrawn.
objections to the acceptance of the application, the applicant shall be notified thereof by official action and
be invited to file his response or to correct the application within the specified period of time. The Patent
Authority may, however, make such changes to the abstract as it deems necessary without consulting the
applicant.
and if the circumstances are held to be uncertain, the Patent Authority may invite such person to institute
proceedings before a court of law within a period of time to be laid down, failing which the claim may be
disregarded in the further processing of the patent application.
court, the patent application may be suspended until a final decision is given by the court.
the Patent Authority shall, if such person so requests, transfer the application to him. The transferee shall
pay a new application fee.
granted until a final decision has been taken on the request.
Once an application has been accepted for public inspection, no request may be filed under Section 14 and
the claims may not be altered in such a way as to extend the scope of protection.
application has been laid open for public inspection. Failing that, the application shall be dismissed.
However, examination may be resumed if, within four months of the expiration of the prescribed time limit,
the applicant pays the publication fee together with the prescribed reinstatement fee.
application for public inspection, he requests exemption from payment of the publication fee, the Patent
Authority may grant exemption if the applicant is considered to have great difficulty in paying the fee. If the
request is rejected, a fee paid within two months thereafter shall be deemed to have been paid on time.
the Patent Authority shall lay the application open for public inspection to afford the public an opportunity
to file opposition against the application. The laying open of the application for public inspection shall be
announced.
From the date on which the application is laid open for public inspection, printed copies of the description,
claims and abstract, giving also the name of the applicant and of the inventor, shall be obtainable from the
Patent Authority.
Eighteen months after the filing date of the application or, if priority is claimed, the priority date, the
documents shall be made available to the public regardless of whether the application has been laid open for
public inspection. If the application has been dismissed or rejected, the documents shall be made available to
the public only if the applicant requests reinstatement of his application, lodges an appeal or submits a
request under Sections 71a or 71b.
When documents are made available under the second and third paragraphs of this Section, a notice to that
effect shall be published.
On proof that a licence or a mortgage recorded in the Register is no longer in force, the entry of that licence
shall be deleted from the Register.
The person last recorded in the Register as the patentee shall be deemed the owner for the purposes of law
suits and for other matters concerning the patent.
enterprise in which they are exploited or in which exploitation was planned.
Where a patent is distrained upon for a debt or litigation is pending on the transfer of a patent, the patent
may not be declared terminated while the distraint is effective or until a final decision is given in the
proceedings. The same shall apply if a mortgage right has been recorded in the Patent Register.
been transferred, the Patent Authority shall publish a notice of that fact.
Chapter 9 Liability, Obligation to Pay Compensation and Court Proceedings
Compensation proceedings for patent infringement shall only refer to damages over the five years prior to
institution of proceedings. The right to compensation for damages suffered prior to that period shall lapse.