- Patents Act 15.12.1967/550 (Unofficial translation)(Amendments up to 2005/896 included)
- Chapter 1 - General Provisions
- Chapter 2 - The Processing of Patent Application and the Opposition Procedure
- Chapter 3 - International Patent Application
- Chapter 4 - The Scope and Term of a Patent
- Chapter 5 - Renewal fees
- Chapter 6 - Assignment, Licences and Compulsory licences
- Chapter 7 - Termination of the Patent
- Chapter 8 - Obligation to Provide Information
- Chapter 9 - Liability, Obligation to Pay Compensation and Court Proceedings
- Chapter 9 a - Supplementary Protection Certificates
- Chapter 9 b - European Patent and Application for European Patent
- Chapter 10 - Special Provisions
Patents Act 15.12.1967/550 (Unofficial translation)
(Amendments up to 2005/896 included)
Chapter 1
General Provisions
Section 1 (30.6.2000/650)
Anyone who has, in any field of technology, made an invention which is susceptible of industrial application, or his or her successor in title, is entitled, on application, to a patent and thereby to the exclusive right to exploit the invention commercially, in accordance with this Act.(18.11.2005/896)
The following, as such, shall not be regarded as inventions:
(1) discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods;
(2) aesthetic creations:
(3) schemes, rules and methods for performing mental acts, playing games or doing business, and programs for computers;
(4) presentations of information.
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 for products, including substances and compositions, for use in any of these methods.
Patents shall not be granted for plant or animal varieties. Inventions which concern plants or animals shall nevertheless be patentable if the technical feasibility of the invention is not confined to a particular plant or animal variety. The concept of plant variety within the meaning of this Act is defined by Article 5 of Council Regulation (EC) No 2100/94 on Community plant variety rights.
Patents shall not be granted for essentially biological processes for the production of plants or animals. For the purposes of this Act a process for the production of plants or animals shall be considered essentially biological if it consists entirely of natural phenomena such as crossing or selection. What is said above shall be without prejudice to the patentability of inventions which concern a microbiological or other technical process or a product obtained by means of such a process. For the purposes of this Act 'microbiological process' means any process involving or performed upon or resulting in microbiological material.
Inventions shall be patentable even if 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 previously occurred in nature. For the purposes of this Act 'biological material' means any material containing genetic information and capable of reproducing itself or being reproduced in a biological system.
Section 1 a (30.6.2000/650)
The human body, at the various stages of its formation and development, and the simple discovery of one of its elements, including the sequence or partial sequence of a gene, cannot constitute patentable inventions.
An element isolated from the human body or otherwise produced by means of a technical process, including the sequence or partial sequence of a gene, may, without prejudice to the provisions of paragraph 1, where the requirements for patentability are fulfilled, constitute a patentable invention, even if the structure of that element is identical to that of a natural element.
Section 1 b (30.6.2000/650)
Patents shall not be granted for inventions the commercial exploitation of which would be contrary to ordre public or morality.
The commercial exploitation of an invention may not be considered to be contrary to ordre public or morality merely because it is prohibited by law or regulation.
For the purposes of paragraph 1 the following inventions, in particular, shall be considered unpatentable:
1) processes for cloning human beings;
2) processes for modifying the germ line genetic identity of human beings;
3) uses of human embryos for industrial or commercial purposes;
4) processes for modifying the genetic identity of animals which are likely to cause them suffering without any substantial medical benefit to man or animal, and also animals resulting from such processes.
Section 2 (6.6.1980/407)
Patents may only be granted for inventions which are new in relation to what was known before the date of filing of the patent application and which also differ essentially from them.
(18.11.2005/896)
Everything made available to the public in writing, in lectures, by public use or otherwise is considered as known. Also, the contents of a patent application filed in this country before said filing date are considered as known if that application becomes available to the public pursuant to section 22. Similarly, the contents of a utility model application filed in this country before the filing date of the patent application are deemed to have become known if the utility model application becomes available to the public pursuant to section 18 of the Act on Utility Model Rights (800/1991). The condition in subsection (1) 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. (18.11.2005/896)
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 l, 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:
(1) an evident abuse in relation to the applicant or his predecessor in title; or
(2) the fact that the applicant or his predecessor in title had displayed the invention at an official, or officially recognized, international exhibition falling within the terms of the Convention on International Exhibitions signed at Paris on November 22, 1928 (Finnish Treaty Series 36/37).
Section 3 (6.6.1980/407)
The exclusive right conferred by a patent shall imply, with the exceptions stated below, that no one may exploit an invention, without the proprietor's consent, by:
(1) making, offering, putting on the market or using a product protected by the patent, or importing or possessing such product for these purposes;
(2) using a process protected by the patent or offering such process for use in this country if he knows or if it is evident from the circumstances that the use of the process is prohibited without the consent of the proprietor of the patent;
(3) offering, putting on the market or using a product obtained by a process protected by the patent or importing or possessing such product for these purposes.
A patent shall also confer on its proprietor 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:
(1) use which is not commercial;
(2) use of a patented product that has been put on the market within the European Economic Area by the proprietor of the patent or with his consent; (18.12.1992/1409)
(3) use in experiments relating to the invention as such;
(4) preparation in a pharmacy of a medicine prescribed by a physician in individual cases or treatment given with the aid of a medicine so prepared.
Section 3 a (30.6.2000/650)
The protection conferred by a patent on a 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 a 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 to 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 paragraph 1 of 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 above shall not extend to biological material obtained from the propagation or multiplication of biological material placed on the market in the territory of the European Economic Area 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 (30.6.2000/650)
By way of derogation from the provisions of Section 3 a, paragraphs 1 to 3, the sale or other form of commercialisation of plant propagating material to a farmer by the holder of the patent or with his consent for agricultural use implies authorisation for the farmer to use the product of his harvest for propagation or multiplication by him on his own farm, the extent and conditions of this derogation corresponding to those under Article 14 of Council Regulation (EC) No 2100/94 on Community plant variety rights.
By way of derogation from the provisions of Section 3 a, paragraphs 1 to 3, the sale or any other form of commercialisation of breeding stock or other animal reproductive material to a farmer by the holder of the patent or with his consent implies authorisation for the farmer to use the protected livestock for an agricultural purpose. This includes making the animal or animal reproductive material available for the purposes of pursuing his agricultural activity but not sale within the framework or for the purpose of a commercial reproduction activity.
More specific regulations concerning the contents and implementation of the derogation provided for in paragraph 2 may be decreed by the Government where necessary.
Section 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.
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.
Section 5
Notwithstanding the patent, an invention may be exploited on foreign vessels, aircraft or other means of transport for their own needs when temporarily entering Finland in regular traffic or otherwise.