Refusal of the trademark application

The letter from us states how you should proceed if you do not agree with our assessment.

• Remember to send us an answer within the deadline given in the letter.
• Submit arguments that justify why you disagree with us. We will then assess the matter again. You can either argue for yourself, or get help from others. A list of professional advisors can be found in the IP "advisor database" on Innovasjon Norge’s website. 
• If we have stated that your trademark lacks distinctiveness, it may still be possible to register it. If you have used your trademark over a long period of time and throughout Norway, it may be incorporated by use. Then you must send us documentation that shows that your trademark is well known throughout the country, so that we can make a new assessment. 
• You can request oral negotiations.
• You can request an extension of the deadline if you find it difficult to respond within the deadline.

To get a more detailed explanation of the contents of the letter or guidance on what you can do next, you can call the case manager who signed the letter. Alternatively, you can call our customer center on 22 38 73 00.

You can also book a digital or physical meeting with us. Please state your application number when you contact us.

If you have been told that the Norwegian Industrial Property Office (NIPO) can register the trademark for some of the goods or services, you can write to us that you want the trademark registered for the goods or services we stated in the letter. We will then register the trademark for these goods or services.

In that case, you will not receive a formal decision regarding the goods or services we have refused. This means that you cannot appeal NIPO's assessment to our appeal body, KFIR, unless you choose to divide the application. 

You can change your trademark to become a trademark that meets the requirements for registration, but then you must submit a new application. 

To be more successful with your new application, you can read more about the requirement for distinctive character, confusingly similar marks and other registration obstacles. 

If NIPO rejects your application because the trademark is descriptive or lacks distinctive character, this does not mean that you are declined from using it. 

BUT, remember that you then do not have exclusive rights to the trademark, and you must make sure that you do not infringe other people's rights under the Marketing Act, the Company Name Act or the Trademarks Act. 

If someone has a trademark that is confusingly similar to yours, you can contact the owner and ask for consent to register your trademark. In that case, you must send us a copy of the consent.

We can then register the trademark.

Do you think that a trademark that prevents your trademark from being registered does not meet the requirements for registration according to the law? Or do you know that this trademark has not been used for 5 years? 

You can then submit a request for administrative review to cancel or revoke this registration that can be confused with your trademark.