Follow your case

You can follow your case and find publicly available documents concerning your application in our Search Service. Search by using your application or registration number.
Carry out a search in our Search Service

Have you filed an application?

If not, you can apply for trademark registration here: Apply for a trademark in Norway

Paying for your application

If you pay at the same time as you file your application (using either our Application Guide or Altinn), processing time is significantly shorter than if you choose to wait for an invoice.

To use the Application Guide you need a Norwegian national ID number. Customers without this ID number must use dedicated forms. More information about this.

If you file your application without paying at the same time, we will send you an invoice for the application fee within 10 working days after you have filed your application. You will be given a time limit of 4 weeks to pay. If you do not pay within that period, the application will be shelved.

Not all applications lead to a trademark registration. Please note that you are paying for processing the application, not for your trademark being registered.

Sending a letter in an application or registration?

We recommend that you use the form for correspondence in Altinn. You will receive a receipt immediately.
Altinn: Correspondence with the Norwegian Industrial Property Office (in Norwegian)

If you are unable to use Altinn for any reason, you can send an e-mail to post@patentstyret.no.

Case processing

• If you pay when filing and choose goods and services from the Product Selector, you will get an answer within three weeks. If you have not heard from us within 3 weeks, you can check the status of your application in NIPO's Search Service.
• If you do not pay when filing your application and/or the list of goods and services has not been pre-approved from the Product Selector when filing, it will take 3-5 months before you receive the first statement in the case or a registration letter from us. This also applies to collective marks and non-traditional trademarks, such as sound, motion and 3D marks.
• Check status for how long the trademark registration process is taking (updated monthly).
• We check whether your trademark fulfills the requirements stipulated in the Trademarks Act. If it does, then we will register your trademark.
• If we find that your trademark does not meet all the requirements in the Trademarks Act, you will receive a message in Altinn or a letter in the post. We call this a "first statement". This statement is our first assessment and not a final decision. If you disagree with our assessment, you must send us a reason for this before the time limit expires. We will then assess the application again.
• If we still consider that all the requirements of the Trademarks Act have not been met, we will write a decision rejecting the registration of the trademark.
• During the trademark process we will communicate with you via Altinn, if that is possible. You can also request oral proceedings.
• We sometimes suspend the processing of a trademark application or put it on hold. Read more about the reasons for this.

Has your trademark application been rejected?

There can be several reasons for this. You application may have been rejected for all the goods and services you have applied for, or some of them. Read more about what you can do next to acquire exclusive rights to your brand.

Faster processing

If you would like your application to be processed faster, you can use the application guide or you can request oral proceedings .

Can others see your application?

You should be aware that your application and all documents in the case are public from the day you file the application. The fact that an application for registration of a trademark has been made cannot be kept secret. Nor can you require that reproduction of the trademark, information concerning the applicant, or the products or services for which an application has been made, be kept secret.
Read more about secrecy and confidentiality

If you are planning on applying for design protection, you should therefore do this before applying for trademark registration, because an application for a trademark will mean making the design public.

Sensitive information

If you would like the Norwegian Industrial Property Office to keep particular documents secret, you must inform us accordingly at the same time as filing the documents. We will normally not accept information of significance to the outcome of the case being exempt from being made public. If only a part of the document contains sensitive information, you can delete the information yourself before submitting the documents. Be aware that requests to exempt documents from being made public will delay case processing.

The reproduction of the trademark, the list of products or services and information about the holder will be available in the register even after the trademark application has been withdrawn or the trademark registration has expired or been deleted.

Limited inventory

A product list can never be extended after submitting an application, but it can be limited. This is typically done to avoid registration obstacles or to be able to enter into agreements with holders of previously registered rights.

The goods and services must be stated "clearly and clearly", see § 10 of the trademark regulations. This means that the market (competitors), the Norwegian Patent Office and other authorities must be able to determine the extent of the exclusive right sought on the basis of the list of goods. (E.g. to assess the freedom of action of other traders.)

The product list can be limited by:

• deleting an entry
• specifying an indication to include something particular, for example; “machines, namely sewing machines”
• excluding something from a broad specification, for example “Class 9: Operating systems, except operating systems for mobile phones”.

In order to succeed in creating a clear and unambiguous limitation, the Norwegian Patent and Trademark Office recommends the following:

• Only make exceptions for goods and services that are included in the list of goods already submitted.
• State the goods/services using a specification (positive statement) if possible.
• The scope of protection is easier to understand if the exception is aimed at specific goods and services, and is clearly and concisely stated.
• Objective characteristics of the product or service are often OK, e.g. "Class 30: Coffee, except decaffeinated coffee" while more subjective characteristics of the goods or services become more easily unclear (the quality of the goods or who the sales circle is) E.g. "Class 30: Coffee, only for sale in the interior""

In its guidelines, EUIPO has given an overview with examples of which restrictions it accepts and does not accept, see EUIPO Guidelines. If you follow these guidelines when you make a restriction, the Norwegian Patent Office will also be able to approve it.

What is a binding constraint?

• You submit a new, approved list of goods which you ask the Swedish Patent Office to use as a basis for further processing.
• You submit a new list of goods that is similar to a proposal from the Norwegian Patent Office.
• You submit a new inventory without reservation.
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Splitting of applications and registrations

You can request that the trademark application or registration be split into two or more applications or registrations. This may be relevant if we cannot register the application for some of the goods on your list, or if, for example, some of the goods on the list are to be transferred to others.
Read more about splitting and combining applications and registrations

Registration and publishing of the trademark

Registration: If the conditions for granting your registration are met, we will register your trademark. We will send you confirmation of your exclusive right within 15 working days after registration.

Publishing: We will publish the registration in the official trademarks gazette "Norsk varemerketidende". Norsk varemerketidende is published weekly on our website.

Objections to the trademark application

Everyone has the option of lodging a protest to your trademark application at any time during the processing of the application. This means that anyone can draw our attention to the fact that they consider there to be grounds for not registering the trademark. If this happens, you will be informed and will have an opportunity to respond to the objection.
Read more about protest.

Objections to a trademark registration

Opposition: Everyone has the option of submitting an opposition to the registration of your trademark for 3 months from the date of publishing in Norsk varemerketidende. This means that anyone can draw our attention to the fact that they believe there to be grounds for not registering your trademark. If this happens, you will be informed and will have an opportunity to respond to the opposition. The opposition may lead to the registration being wholly or partially cancelled.
Read more about oppositions.

Administrative review: After the time limit for an opposition has expired, others can continue to test the validity of your registration by administrative review, for example on the basis of lack of use or degeneration of the trademark.
Read more about administrative review.

Appeal options

If you disagree with the Norwegian Industrial Property Office's decision or if your registration is to be cancelled, you can appeal against this decision to the Norwegian Board of Appeal for Industrial Property Rights. The time limit for appeals is two months from the date when the decision is sent. You will then have to pay an appeal fee. An appeal against the decision by the Norwegian Board of Appeal for Industrial Property Rights can be lodged in the courts.
More information on the Norwegian Board of Appeal for Industrial Property Rights at www.kfir.no.

Cancellation of the registration as a result of an application received later with better priority

For a period after registration, the Norwegian Industrial Property Office may receive new applications which, on the basis of international obligations, may have better priority than your trademark. These are trademarks that have an application date from another country and where the applicant has applied in new countries within a period of 6 months. If the Norwegian Industrial Property Office receives such an application that is identical to or can be confused with your trademark, and this has an application date from another country that is earlier in time than the date on which you applied for a trademark in Norway, the outcome may be that your registration has to be cancelled. This happens very rarely.

Do you wish to apply for trademark registration abroad?

If you wish to protect your trademark in other countries, you must apply directly in each country or use an international application system. It is important that you apply abroad before six months has elapsed since you filed your application in Norway. You will then obtain what is known as "priority", which means that protection comes into effect at the same time as in Norway.
Read more about trademark registration abroad

Changes in the registration

If you have a new address or other changes occur, you must inform us accordingly. We recommend that you use our form for changes in the trademark register. As the forms are in Norwegian, you can alternatively send us an e-mail. Changes to the trademark register (our database) are made within 15 working days after we have received notification.

Renewing your trademark registration

To maintain the registration, you must pay a fee every 10 years. The fee must be paid by the specified deadline or at the earliest one year beforehand. You choose yourself how long you wish to maintain the trademark registration.
Read more about renewal

Copy of your or others' trademark registration

You can order a certified copy of your own or others' trademark application or registration. The confirmation will be sent within 10 working days after we have received the fee. You can use the document as a priority document or to document your rights, for example in relation to someone who is abusing your trademark.
More information about certified copies and prices

Relevant legislation

• Trademarks Act Sections 25, 30
• Regulation on Fees

Questions?

Ring our Customer Service Centre, tel: +47 22 38 73 00