2007.11.26 Norway accedes to the European Patent Convention
On October 5, 2007, Norway has deposited the instrument of accession to the Act of revising the EPC of November 29, 2000 (EPC 2000).
As a consequence, the EPC will enter into force for Norway on January 1, 2008, as anticipated (see our news dated June 11, 2007). Therefore, European patent applications filed on or after January 1, 2008 will include the designation of this new contracting State. However, it will NOT be possible to retroactively designate Norway for applications filed earlier than January 1, 2008.
Any PCT application filed on or after January 1, 2008 will automatically designate Norway for the purpose of obtaining a European patent. However, it will NOT be possible to retroactively designate Norway for a European application derived from a PCT application filed earlier than January 1, 2008, but it will still be possible to obtain a national patent in Norway on the basis of those international application, assuming that Norway has been designated in the international application.
For more information, see:
http://www.european-patent-office.org/epo/pubs/oj007/11_07/11_5317.pdf
