Validating European patents in Norway

Patent applications which are being processed or have been granted at the European Patent Office (EPO) can be validated in Norway.

How to make your European patent valid in Norway

To validate a European patent in Norway, you must file an application for validation, including a translation of the patent, to the Norwegian Industrial Property Office (NIPO) within three months after the EPO has published notification that the patent has been granted. You must also pay a validation fee.
See price list.

If you use a patent agent, you must submit a Power of Attorney.

You can pay the validation fee directly via Altinn, or we can send you an invoice with one month's notice after we have checked the application and any documents.

If you have not complied with the deadline, you may in some cases, request that your application be taken up for examination again. Read more about the possibility of further processing.

1. Send your application via Altinn

For Norwegian residents and companies operating in Norway: for reasons of security and traceability, we recommend that you send your application online via Altinn. You will receive a receipt immediately.

Send application: New publication of European patent applications and validation of European patents

The following information is required:

Application or publication number at the EPO.
Title
Name or business name of the owner of the patent.
Address for correspondence.

No Norwegian national ID number?

The Norwegian Industrial Property Office (NIPO) offers a secure electronic solution for those of our customers without a national ID number. File applications and communicate with us electronically. Read more about how you can do this.

2. Translation

The following documents must be submitted:

If the patent is granted in English at the EPO:

Translation of claims into Norwegian

If the patent is granted in French or German at the EPO:

Translation of claims into Norwegian
Translation of the title and description, including any text on drawings, into English OR translation of the title and description, including any text on drawings, into Norwegian.
Any sequence listings need not be translated.

Document format:

Description, claims and drawings must be submitted in separate files.
Numbering must be placed at the top of the page in the middle.
Representative/ Patent attorney, PCT number and EP number etc. should not be included.
Title should not be listed in the description and claims.

3. Power of Attorney

If you are using a patent agent, you must submit a Power of Attorney. The Power of Attorney should contain the application or publication number, the name and address of the patent holder, and the name and address of the patent agent. If the Power of Attorney is not submitted by the deadline, the patent will be published without the representative being listed. You need only submit a copy of the Power of Attorney.

Link to PDF form: Power of Attorney

Annual renewal fees

To maintain your European patent in Norway, you are required to pay renewal fees each year to NIPO. It is your responsibility to pay before the due date.

Check the list of fees

Provisional protection for your patent in Norway

To obtain provisional patent protection in Norway on the basis of a European patent application published by the EPO, the application must also be published in Norway. In EURO-PCT cases where the EP application has not yet been published by the EPO, you can apply for publication in Norway if the EP application has been published by WIPO.

To get your European patent application published in Norway you must submit the following to NIPO:

Application for publication
Translation of claims into Norwegian

An application to get your European patent application published in Norway is free of charge.

The provisional protection applies only insofar as there is agreement between the Norwegian and the English text. You can submit a correction of the translation for publication.

Application form in Altinn: New publication of European patent applications and validation of European patents

Notification of changes of owner and representative in Norway and EPO

Changes in Norway

Changes in ownership which are not registered at the EPO may be reported to the NIPO. See Changes to an application or rights.

Changes via EPO

When customers send changes to the EPO, updates will be sent to Norway. Customers do not need to send confirmation documents from the EPO or original documents concerning transfers or changes in name and address to the NIPO.

Validation of European Patent after centralised opposition and patent limitation at EPO

To maintain your patent in amended form after a decision has been made concerning an opposition or an administrative limitation at the EPO, you must submit a new translation within three months after the EPO has announced the grant of the patent in amended form. If the announcement that the patent is granted in an amended form took place on 1 January 2015 or later, the document requirements mentioned in the section at the top of this page "How to make your European patent valid in Norway" apply.

The revalidation fee will be charged. See price list.

Corrections

In order to validate a corrected version (B9) of an EP patent or publish a corrected translation of the NO / EP patent, you must submit a new translation. Document requirements are the same as for the initial validation. See the section at the top of this page "How to validate an EP patent in Norway".

A correction fee will be charged. See price list.

Administrative patent limitation at the NIPO

It is possible for you as a holder of a European validated patent to limit the patent at the NIPO.

National administrative review

Anyone can submit a request for administrative review.

Supplementary protection certificate (SPC)

For pharmaceuticals and plant protection products you can in some cases apply for an extension of the protection period for up to five years, by applying for a Supplementary protection certificate (SPC).

Read more about Supplementary protection certificate (SPC)
SPC application form (PDF file) (form is in Norwegian)

Rules and regulations

Questions?

Send an e-mail to post@patentstyret.no marked "validation".