European patent application
The European Patent Convention (EPC) is an agreement between several European countries. The agreement makes it easier and cheaper to apply for and obtain a patent in several of the member states at the same time. Norway became a member of the EPC on 1 January 2008. This means that European applications and granted patents can come into effect in Norway.
Use the priority from a Norwegian application
You can submit a European patent application with priority from a Norwegian application.
How do you apply?
You can submit your application electronically directly to the EPO. You get a reduced application fee by submitting electronically, and immediately receive a receipt that the application has been submitted.
You can also apply via the national patent office in one of the member states, for example the Norwegian Industrial Property Office, NIPO. The national authority sends the application to the EPO, which carries out the formal inspection. If this date becomes the submission date, the EPO will decide during the formal inspection. The NIPO therefore has no responsibility if the date of receipt does not meet the requirements for the filing date.
Who processes the application?
The application is processed and assessed by the EPO, which grants a European patent with effect for the countries designated in the application.
How does the patent become valid in the various countries?
After a European patent has been granted, you must take the initiative yourself for the patent to become valid in the countries you want. After 1 July 2023, you can choose between these procedures:
Within three months of notification, you can validate the European patent in the countries you want it to be valid. You then pay a validation fee and annual fees to each individual country, as well as deliver a translation in the countries that require this.
Within one month of notification, you can, at the EPO, claim unitary effect for the European patent. A unitary patent will take effect in the EU countries that participate in the unitary patent at the time you claim unitary effect. You pay the annual fee to the EPO.
Important
You must validate a European patent in Norway for it to be valid here. Since Norway is not an EU country, unitary patents will not be valid in Norway.
If you require unitary effect, you can additionally validate the European patent in EPO member countries that do not participate in the unitary patent.
Provisional patent protection in Norway
In order to obtain provisional patent protection in Norway for a European patent application, the patent application must be published in Norway.
In order to have the European application published in Norway, you must deliver the following to the NIPO:
- Application for publication
- Norwegian translation of the patent claims
- Information about the application number and/or publication number in the EPO
- Information about the applicant's name and address
- Any power of attorney. If you do not supply a power of attorney, the application will be published without a power of attorney
The NIPO will announce in the Norwegian Patent Gazette that the patent claims have been submitted in Norwegian, and we will make the translation available in our database.
The provisional protection only applies as long as there is agreement between the Norwegian translation and the text in the language that was the language of processing in the EPO.
If necessary, you can submit a correction of the translation. The NIPO must announce that we have received a correction to the translation for the correction to apply.
It is free to apply to have a European patent application published in Norway.