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Patenting an invention grants exclusive rights to commercially exploit the invention for 20 years. To obtain a patent, you must submit an application to the Norwegian Industrial Property Office. The invention must provide a practical solution to a problem, where the solution has a technical character, a technical effect, and can be reproduced. The invention must also have "inventive step," meaning it must be new and significantly different from previously known technology in the field.

A trademark is a distinctive sign for goods and services. It can consist of, for example, names, words, logos, or symbols. You can protect a trademark against imitation by applying for trademark registration with the Norwegian Industrial Property Office. A trademark can only be registered if it is capable of distinguishing your goods and/or services from those of others.

A trademark is a distinctive sign for goods and services. It may consist of, for example, a name, word, logo, or symbol. You can protect a trademark from imitation by applying for trademark registration with the Norwegian Industrial Property Office.

Main benefits

• Grants the exclusive right to use the mark as a sign for your own goods and/or services.
• Grants the exclusive right to use the mark for commercial purposes - for example, on the product itself, on packaging, in advertising, online, in verbal communication, or in other ways. The exclusive right applies throughout Norway.
• The exclusive right lasts for 10 years and can be renewed every 10 years an unlimited number of times.

Requirements for registration

A trademark can only be registered if it is capable of distinguishing your goods and/or services from those of others. Names that merely describe the type, characteristics, or other descriptive aspects of the product cannot be registered as trademarks. Examples of descriptive marks include "wholemeal bread" for bread, "raspberry" for jam, and "European travel" for travel arrangements. The name must be distinctive. Other key requirements for registration are that the name must not be misleading, and it must not be confusingly similar to existing names, company names, or trademarks.

The appearance and shape of a product, or parts of a product. The term also includes non-physical items, such as website screenshots, graphic symbols, and similar. To be eligible for protection through registration, the design must be new and must not have been made public for more than 12 months.

The Norwegian Industrial Property Office is a government agency under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries. Its main task is to process applications for patents, trademark registrations, and design registrations. In addition, it carries out extensive information activities to explain the importance of intellectual property rights.

A collective term for rights to, among other things, patents, trademarks, and designs. These rights grant the holder exclusive rights to commercially exploit their own products and services. Intellectual property rights are considered a prerequisite for economic growth, both for individual businesses and for society as a whole.

The Norwegian Industrial Property Office’s free and open search service provides public information about trademarks, patents, and designs in Norway. From a single search field, you can quickly get an overview of who holds which rights, view illustrations and images related to registrations, check case status, see fee payment information, and access document journals. The tool also allows for data compilation, sorting, and analysis.

In the Norwegian Industrial Property Office’s search service, you will find all public information about trademarks, patents, and designs in Norway. Here, you can quickly get an overview of who holds which rights, see illustrations and images related to various registrations, check the status of cases, find information on fee payments, and access document journals.

You can also find answers to questions such as: “How are patents, trademarks, and designs used as tools in the innovation process in Østfold compared to Rogaland?”

The search service is free and open to everyone.