Norway accedes to the London Agreement
The London Agreement came into force in Norway with effect from 01 January 2015.
The London Agreement is aimed at reducing the cost of validating European patents by removing or lessening the translation requirements for validation in states that have signed up to the agreement. Consequently the following changes have been introduced to the Norwegian Patents act:
- For European patents granted in English, a translation of the complete specification is not required, but the claims must be translated into Norwegian at the time of validation.
- For European patents granted in French or German, a translation of the description into English or Norwegian must be filed along with a Norwegian translation of the claims at the time of validation.
A Norwegian translation of the claims must always therefore be supplied, but no translation of the description is required for European patents granted in English.
These changes are applicable to European patents granted on or after 01 January 2015. Importantly, however, these changes do not apply to European patents granted before 01 January 2015 but amended in opposition, appeal or limitation proceeding and re-validated in Norway on or after 01 January 2015.