Advisory services and support in the field of intellectual property rights

The Design Act defines a design as the appearance of a product or part of a product, which in particular results from the characteristics of the lines, contours, colours, shape, texture, or materials of the product itself or its ornamentation.

A design must be new and have individual character in order to be protected through registration. A design is considered new if no identical design has been made available to the public before the application for registration is filed. A design is considered identical to another design if the distinguishing features differ only in immaterial details.

There is an exception to the requirement of novelty in the Design Act. The designer may test the design for up to one year before filing the application without this being considered making it publicly available.

A design is considered to have individual character if the overall impression it produces on the informed user differs from the overall impression that such a user obtains from other design.

Upon registration, the holder of the design obtains the exclusive right to exploit the design for commercial purposes. The design registration is valid for the five-year period or periods for which the application has been filed. A registration that is valid for a period shorter than five years may be renewed for additional five-year periods, up to a total of 25 years.

A person who has infringed another party’s rights under the Design Act, or who has contributed to such infringement, may be prohibited by court order from repeating the act. A person who willfully commits or contributes to design infringement may be punished with fines or imprisonment for up to one year. A person who intentionally or negligently commits design infringement must pay the rights holder either compensation equivalent to a reasonable licence fee, damages for loss, or compensation equivalent to the profit obtained.

If someone other than the holder of a distinctive sign uses that sign as part of a domain name, conflicts and questions of infringement may arise. In Norway, all .no domains must be linked to a registrar (domain reseller). All applications for domain names must be submitted through the registrar. In Norway, there are many companies that operate as registrars.

Norid processes domain applications. Before registration, the applicant must sign a self-declaration confirming that they do not infringe on the rights of others, and that they accept responsibility for the consequences of registering and using the domain name they choose. There is no prior review of whether the registration infringes on the rights of others. Infringements of rights and other conflicts are handled afterwards, either by the Domain Complaint Board or through the legal system.

A trademark holder may file a complaint with the Domain Complaint Board. The Domain Complaint Board is an independent appeal body that handles disputes concerning rights to domain names and complaints about decisions made by Norid. A trademark holder may submit a complaint to the board alleging that a registration constitutes an infringement of rights. If the complainant has rights to a name or mark that is identical or confusingly similar to the domain name, and the registration or use of the domain name has been carried out in bad faith, the Domain Complaint Board may decide that the domain name must be deleted or transferred to the complainant.

Section 30 of the Norwegian Marketing Control Act states: “In commercial activities, it is prohibited to use imitative signs, products, catalogues, advertising materials or other creations in such a manner and under such circumstances that it must be considered an unreasonable exploitation of another party’s effort or results and entails a risk of confusion.”

In order for protection against imitation under the Marketing Control Act to apply, it is not sufficient that there is an imitation involving the exploitation of another party’s effort; this exploitation must also be considered “unreasonable.” The criterion of unreasonable exploitation of another party’s effort or results will, among other things, apply in cases of slavish imitation. In such cases, the copier has not made any effort of their own.

A company name is used to distinguish the business entity itself from other businesses. A company name is the official name of a commercial legal entity or of a specific sole proprietorship. Word marks may be used as company names, but figurative marks may not be used.

Section 25 of the Norwegian Marketing Control Act states: “In commercial activities, no act shall be performed that is contrary to good business practice between traders.”

The assessment is based on business ethics and is aimed at culpable competitive conduct. For example, it would be contrary to good business practice to speak disparagingly about competitors. This applies to statements made in a tone or form that is insulting, offensive, or derogatory, such as insults or insinuations.

Marketing must also not unjustifiably exploit the goodwill associated with another party’s product name or trademark, or goodwill created through another party’s advertising campaigns. A typical example is when a company—without any imitation or risk of confusion—free-rides on another company’s goodwill by incorporating that company’s name and reputation into its marketing.

Copyright is regulated by the Norwegian Copyright Act (Åndsverkloven). The Act is intended to ensure that creators and performing artists are able to earn a living from their work, and it is meant to facilitate investment in creative content. At the same time, copyright is intended to promote access to copyrighted works.

Anyone who, intentionally or negligently, infringes another person’s copyright or otherwise violates certain provisions of the Copyright Act (Åndsverkloven) may be sentenced to fines or imprisonment for up to one year. Participation in such infringement may also be punishable. Serious infringements may be punished with fines or imprisonment for up to three years.

From a civil law perspective, breaches of copyright may result in claims for damages or remuneration.

Patent law concerns technical inventions and the right to exploit them. To obtain a patent, the invention must be capable of industrial application. This means that the invention must be reproducible. Patent law is therefore often referred to as a form of industrial legal protection.

A patent can only be granted for inventions that are new and differ substantially from what was known on the day the patent application was filed. A patentable invention must therefore involve a certain level of inventive step.

Anyone who has infringed a patent, or contributed to such infringement, may be prohibited by court order from repeating the act. Anyone who intentionally commits patent infringement may be punished with fines or imprisonment for up to one year. Anyone who intentionally or negligently commits patent infringement must pay the rights holder either remuneration equivalent to a reasonable licence fee, compensation for damages, or remuneration corresponding to the profit obtained.

Patent rights are established on the basis of a patent application submitted to the Norwegian Industrial Property Office (Patentstyret). Patent rights are established at a specific point in time and, from that moment, provide the invention with protection against other similar inventions. The decisive date for priority is the filing date of the patent application with the Norwegian Industrial Property Office.

The patent application must contain a description of the invention, including drawings where necessary, as well as an indication of what is sought to be protected by the patent (the patent claims).

A granted patent may be maintained for up to 20 years from the date on which the patent application was filed. The patent grants the holder an exclusive right to exploit the invention in commercial activities. This means that no one, without the consent of the patent holder, may exploit the invention, for example by manufacturing or selling products covered by the patent.

Patent rights are not without limitations. A person who was already commercially exploiting the invention in this country at the time the patent application was filed may continue such.

Exclusive rights to a trademark can be acquired in two ways: either by registering the mark under the Trademark Act, or by establishing it in the market through use.

Although it is possible to obtain legal protection through use, there are many reasons why most trademarks are registered. One important reason is that the Norwegian Industrial Property Office (Patentstyret) ensures that no one obtains registration of the same or a similar trademark for the same type of goods or services. In addition, the Trademark Act contains a rule stating that a trademark that has been registered for five years cannot be challenged, even if it is liable to be confused with an earlier right-holder’s trademark.

The Trademark Act does not provide a definition of the term “trademark,” but Section 2 of the Act states that “a trademark may consist of any signs capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one undertaking from those of others, such as words and word combinations, including slogans, names, letters, numbers, figures and images, or the shape of a product, its packaging or equipment.”

Accordingly, the main types of trademarks are figurative marks, word marks, composite marks (a combination of words and figures), three-dimensional marks relating to product design or packaging, as well as numbers and certain letters.

Trademarks are used for both goods and services, even though the term might suggest otherwise. A trademark makes it possible to distinguish a business and the goods and services associated with it. Consumers are thereby enabled, without risk of confusion, to distinguish a particular product or service from goods or services of a different origin.

Anyone who has infringed another person’s trademark rights, or contributed to such infringement, may be prohibited by court order from repeating the act. Anyone who intentionally commits or contributes to trademark infringement may be punished with fines or imprisonment for up to one year. Anyone who intentionally or negligently commits trademark infringement must pay the rights holder either remuneration equivalent to a reasonable licence fee, compensation for damages, or remuneration corresponding to the profit obtained.

Section 26 of the Norwegian Marketing Control Act establishes a prohibition against misleading business practices. The provision expresses the so-called principle of truthfulness. The prohibition against misleading marketing means that false or undocumented claims that are capable of influencing demand or supply may not be made. An example is a company that, in its marketing, provides misleading and negative information about the characteristics and prices of a competitor’s products or services.

Claims presented in marketing regarding factual circumstances must be substantiated. If not, the marketing is considered misleading and unlawful.

A person who creates a copyrighted work holds copyright in the work and is referred to as the author. Works protected by copyright are literary and artistic works, provided that they are expressions of original and individual creative intellectual effort. This is referred to as the requirement of originality; the work must have a sufficient level of originality.

There is no requirement regarding a specific level of quality in what is created, as long as it is original. Nor is there any requirement that something objectively new must have been created, unlike in patent law.

Examples of copyrighted works include texts of all kinds, oral lectures, stage works, music, films, paintings, sculptures, computer programs, etc. Although copyright is primarily associated with literary and artistic works, it also protects works with practical purposes, such as manuals and advertising posters.

Copyright does not depend on any form of public registration. The right arises at the moment the work is created and made available to the public.