The patent guidelines
The patent guidelines are internal instructions for the patent examiners at the Norwegian Industrial Property Office (NIPO), which applicants can expect us to follow. The patent guidelines are published on our website for information purposes. The guidelines are only available in Norwegian.
The guidelines are primarily aimed at the patent examiners at the NIPO, but we also want them to be of help to the users of the patent system in that the guidelines should contribute to making the proceedings predictable.
The guidelines must be regarded as general instructions that applicants can expect the NIPO to follow. However, the guidelines (« patentretningslinjene») do not constitute a regulation in the sense of the Public Administration Act, and for binding authorizations it is necessary to refer to the Norwegian Patents Act («patentloven») or the Norwegian Patent Regulations («patentforskriften»).
The NIPO must harmonize the examination practice in with the corresponding practice at the European Patent Office (EPO) as far as the applicable Norwegian legislation allows. Reference is therefore made in the guidelines to relevant parts of the Guidelines for Examination (EPO-GL) and decisions from the EPO Technical Board of Appeal and the EPO Enlarged Board of Appeal (T and G decisions) in the guidelines.