Changes in rules on the renewal of trademarks

The new trademark directive was introduced into Norwegian law from 1 March 2023, and this means changes have been made to the rules on renewing trademark registrations. The changes apply to Sections 32 and 33 of the Trademarks Act, and Section 56 of the Trademark Regulations. Changes have also been made to Sections 9 and 14 of the Regulations on Fees.

Renewal six months before the end of the registration period

Before 1 March 2023, you could request renewal no earlier than one year before and no later than six months after the end of the registration period. This has been changed so that renewal can now be requested no earlier than six months before the end of the registration period.

Before 1 March, we sent out a renewal notice two months before the end of the registration period. This has changed and we now send the notice of renewal six months before the end of the registration period.

Transition rules

The new rules in the Trademarks Act Section 33 first paragraph on renewal only apply to trademark registrations that expire more than one year after the Act came into force. This means that the holder can renew registrations that expire no later than 1 March 2024 in the period from 1 March 2023 until 1 March 2024. Registrations that expire on 2 March 2024, on the other hand, can only be renewed from and including 2 September 2023, etc.

Renewal for only parts of the product list

The new rules have clarified that it is possible to renew a trademark for some of the goods and services for which the registration applies. This means that the owner can choose to keep the trademark for some goods or services, but not all.

From three to one goods and services class

The renewal fee previously included three classes of goods and services, with an additional fee for each additional class beyond three. This has been changed so that the renewal fee only covers one class of goods or services. An additional fee per class applies for each class beyond one, .

The purpose of these rules is to avoid people maintaining protection for trademarks for more goods and services than it is used for ("clogging" of the system).