Renew a Norwegian patent validated through the European Patent Office (EPO):
If your patent is a European patent that was granted by the European Patent Office and then validated in Norway, you can maintain the patent by paying an annual maintenance fee to the EPO. The first renewal fee of a patent application is due on the second anniversary of the patent's filing date and thereafter, renewal fees are due on an annual basis. Once a patent is granted by the EPO and validated in Norway, the renewal fee is paid to the Norwegian Intellectual Property Office (NIPO). The rules that apply to a national Norwegian patent also apply to an EP patent in Norway. For more information on renewal fees related to the EPO, please visit another one of our articles at this link, here.
For example, if the filing date of a patent is 2017-06-15, and grant date is 2023-04-25, you will have to settle the renewal fee with the EPO starting from 2019-06-30 onwards until 2022-06-30. From 2023 onwards, you will have to settle the renewal fee with the Norwegian Intellectual Property Office.
Renew a national patent with the Norwegian Patent Office:
In order to maintain a patent application in Norway, a renewal fee must be paid to the Norwegian Intellectual Property Office (NIPO) on an annual basis. This applies even if your application is still being processed and patents have not yet been granted. The renewal fee of a patent application for the first time is due at the beginning of the third payment year from the filing date. After which, the fees must be paid annually. The renewal fees in Norway are always due on the last day of the month, which is when the original filing date of the application falls.
For example, if the filing date of a patent is 2017-06-15, you will only have to settle the renewal fee on the last day of June starting from 2019-06-30 onwards.
In Norway, there is another type of intellectual property called designs. At PatentRenewal.com, we have all the necessary tools and procedures to ensure that both patents and designs can be renewed through us.
Intellectual Property Type #1 - Designs
A Norwegian design is valid for 25 years, from the filing date of the design. You can choose to renew the registration for five-year periods. If a Norwegian design is protected for 5 years, it can be renewed every five years up to a maximum of four renewals. In order to maintain the protection beyond the initial 5-year period, you will have to pay renewal fees at the end of 5th year in order to extend the protection term for a further 5 years. Renewal fees are required with each registered design, even if these are designs of multiple applications. If the renewal fee is not paid by the due date, You can make a ‘late renewal’ up to 6 months after the renewal date by paying a higher fee.
The patent renewal fees of a patent application is due at the beginning of the third payment year from the filing date. For further clarification, please refer to the breakdown below.
National patent: The first renewal fee of a patent application is due at the beginning of the third payment year from the filing date.
For example, if the filing date of a patent is 2017-06-15, you will only have to settle the renewal fee on the last day of June starting from 2019-06-30 onwards.
Norwegian patent validated through the European Patent Office (EPO): The first renewal fee of a patent application is due on the second anniversary of the patent's filing date and thereafter, renewal fees are due on an annual basis. Once a patent is granted by the EPO and validated in Norway, the renewal fee is paid to the Norwegian Intellectual Property Office (NIPO).
For example, if the filing date of a patent is 2017-06-15, and grant date is 2023-04-25, you will have to settle the renewal fee with the EPO starting from 2019-06-30 onwards until 2022-06-30. From 2023 onwards, you will have to settle the renewal fee with the Norwegian Intellectual Property Office (NIPO).
National patent: Prior to the grant, the Norwegian patent application is in it’s filing stage. You will have to pay the renewal fee to the Norwegian patent office irrespective of whether the patent has been granted or not. The first renewal fee of a patent application is due on the second anniversary of the filing date.
Norwegian patent validated through the European Patent Office (EPO): Prior to the grant, the patent application is in its filing stage with the EPO. You can only begin paying the renewal fees to the EPO from the second anniversary of the patent's filing date and thereafter, renewal fees are due on an annual basis. However, once the patent has been granted and validated in Norway, the renewal fee is thereafter paid to the Norwegian Intellectual Property Office (NIPO).
National patent: The payment window in Norway opens six months before the renewal fees are due. It is important to note that the renewal fees cannot be settled prior to this window opening. This rule is applicable to both national patents as well as to an EP patent in Norway.
For example, if the renewal due date of a patent is 2017-07-31, you will only have to settle the renewal fee starting from 2017-01-31 onwards.
National patent: Yes, it is possible to renew a Norwegian patent after its deadline. If you fail to pay the renewal fee in due time, the patent will move into a 6-month grace period whereby, the renewal fees can still be settled. However, when entering the grace period you will incur an added penalty of 700.00 NOK to that of the original renewal fee total. If you wish to maintain the patent, the (new) total renewal fee will have to be settled within the given 6-month timeframe.
Norwegian patent validated through the European Patent Office (EPO): The same rule that applies to a national Norwegian patent for missing a renewal deadline, also applies to an EP patent in Norway.
It is not mandatory to use a local agent or representative when renewing a national patent in Norway. For this reason, one can pay the renewal fees using their payment service provider or via online banking. Note, cheques and cash payments are not accepted. The above rule is applicable to both national patents as well as an EP patent in Norway.
In order to maintain a Norwegian patent, renewal fees need to be settled annually with the Norwegian Intellectual Property Office (NIPO). By settling the renewal fees, the patent is guaranteed to last for a maximum of 20 years from the filing date. This rule is applicable to both national patents as well as to an EP patent in Norway.