Trademark in Norway

A trademark can be a name, logo, slogan, jingle, animation, fragrance, sound, or even the shape or look of a product. In contrast, a brand is a tool that customers use to consciously choose your goods and services over those of your rivals.

By registering with the Norwegian Industrial Property Office or by using the trademark extensively on the Norwegian market in Norway, you can get exclusive rights that restrict others from using the same trademarks without your permission.

Therefore, if you also want Trademark registration in Norway but are unsure of where to begin, talk to one of our trademark experts who have experience advising Norwegian and foreign clients in a variety of industries. They can help with everything from trademark registration, licensing, and contracts, to dispute resolution and the enforcement of rights.

Trademark Registration in Norway

As Norway is a "first to file" jurisdiction, trademark registration is required to confer rights over a trademark and protection in Svalbard and Jan Mayen. In rare circumstances, however, an unregistered trademark may be protected for extensive use. Therefore, you must submit your trademark application to the Norwegian Industrial Property Office. Norway is a party to the Madrid Protocol as well. As a result, we also use the Madrid System to register a trademark internationally.

If you include both word elements and figurative elements when registering a trademark in Norway, your exclusive right to use the trademark is restricted to using it. Or you can register for a different trademark that simply includes the word or figurative parts to protect them separately if you want to utilize the word element of your trademark independently from the logo or vice versa for trademark registration in Norway.

How to File a Trademark Application in Norway

• Selecting a Distinctive Trademark

  Selecting a distinctive trademark—which can be a term, logo, picture, or sign—to distinguish your products and services from those of other vendors is the first stage in every trademark registration in Norway procedure.

• Trademark Search

  The following step is to select categories of goods or services in accordance with the nature of your business so that identical marks for related goods or services do not already exist in trademark databases. This is necessary for trademark registration in Norway.

• Filing of Trademark Application

  The Norwegian Industrial Property Office is a "first to file" country, therefore in order to obtain rights over a trademark there, you must submit a trademark registration application. The trademark application will next be assessed by the trademark office to determine whether any corrections or revisions are required, which may result in an objection or application rejection.

• Published in the Trademark Journal

  If there are any disputes, they must be resolved before moving further, and the application is then reviewed by the Norwegian Trademarks Gazette ("Norsk Varemerketidende") before being published in the trademark journal to notify any third parties of any opposition to the trademark that has been published. The three-month opposition period begins on the date of publication for trademark registration in Norway.

• Objections

  If there are any objections raised within this period of opposition, the mark's trademark registration will be rejected, and you will need to show evidence to back up your viewpoint.

• Certificate of Trademark Registration in Norway

  If no one objects to your registration or raises any trademark registration issues, a certificate of trademark registration in Norway will be given upon completion of the aforementioned stages.

Validity of trademark registration in Norway

The validity of a trademark registered in Norway is 10 years from the date of filing the application; however, it can be renewed for an additional 10 years with late fees charged if the renewal application is submitted less than 12 months before the trademark is set to expire.

Cancellation of Trademark Registration in Norway

A registered trademark becomes susceptible to cancellation procedures based on lack of use if it is not used for a five-year period.