Norway now more interesting for patent applicants

Dusseldorf, 22 January 2015 –New, simplified rules now apply for businesses registering patents in Norway:  Effective 1 January 2015, the country has become an official member of the London Convention thus waiving the right to full translations of European patents into Norwegian if an English translation is available or if the relevant patents were issued in English. Similar simplifications apply for Norwegian national patent applications and for the nationalization of international applications in Norway. Furthermore, if desired, also office actions may be issued in English in the future future. Patent claims, however, must still be filed in the Norwegian language.

According to Cohausz & Florack (C&F), these changes can also provide financial advantages for companies: “Norwegian translations of patents are generally more expensive than most others. That is one of the reasons why many German companies have so far not sought patent protection in Norway – despite the fact that the country is economically significant," says Jan Ackermann, patent attorney at C&F. “But by joining the London Convention, Norway could now also become an interesting patent market for German companies.” As the country is not an EU member, the planned European patent with unitary effect (“EU patent”) will not be valid there. That is why the London Convention is all the more important: “Participation in it is a sensible reaction by Norway to the EU patent in order to also ensure simplification in patent protection and thus to become and stay an attractive destination for foreign companies," explains Ackermann.

The convention on the application of Article 65 EPC (European Patent Convention) – the so-called London Convention – states that members shall wholly or largely waive the right to demand that translations of European patents have to be filed in their respective country. Norway deposited the instrument of accession on September 2014 and is now the 21st member state to have joined the Convention.