NORWAY Law and Practice Contributed by: Camilla Vislie, Magnus Hauge Greaker, Julie Rasmussen Solli and Amalie Hauge Pedersen, Advokatfirmaet Thommessen AS
extensions of time to file an opposition. There is no cooling-off period under the Norwegian system. Revocation/cancellation Cancellation and revocation proceedings may be conducted by way of an administrative review by NIPO. A request for an administrative review may be made when the opposition time limit has expired, and any opposition proceedings have been settled with a final decision from NIPO. Revocation proceedings on the grounds of lack of genuine use can be filed five years after the registration date at the earliest (see 4.5 Use in Commerce Prior to Registration ). All other inval - idation actions can be filed without any specific time limit. Copyrights Copyright protection in Norway is not subject to registration. It will therefore not be possible to file administrative revocation or cancellation actions of copyrights. 5.2 Legal Grounds for Filing an Opposition or Cancellation Trade Marks Opposition and revocation Opposition and revocation to a trade mark reg - istration must be filed based on one or more of the grounds mentioned in 4.10 Refusal of Reg- istration . Cancellation A trade mark registration may be deleted on the basis of one or more of the following grounds: • the trade mark has become contrary to law or public order or is liable to cause offence; • the trade mark has become the general des - ignation for goods or services of the type for
which it is registered due to the trade mark holder’s actions or passivity; • the trade mark has become liable to deceive due to use by the trade mark owner or some- one with their consent; • notification has not been made of amend - ments to the regulations for the use of a col - lective mark, or the collective mark has been used in contravention of the regulations filed, without the trade mark holder having taken steps to prevent such use within a reasonable time; or • the trade mark holder has not made actual use of the trade mark within five years after a final decision on registration was made, or the use has been discontinued for five consecu - tive years. Copyrights See 5.1 Timeframes for Filing an Opposition or Cancellation . 5.3 Ability to File an Opposition or Revocation/Cancellation Trade Marks Opposition Any natural or legal person can file an opposi - tion. The opponent does not need to be the own - er of a trade mark or a trade mark registration to file an opposition, or have any commercial interests at stake. Representation by an attorney is not mandatory. There are no office fees. The attorney fees will vary a lot, but will normally be in the range of EUR3,000 to EUR7,000. Revocation/cancellation A revocation or cancellation proceeding may be initiated by any person with a legal interest in the matter. However, this is usually only the owner of a prior trade mark or of a previous registration, or a licensee who is considered to have a legal interest in the matter when the proceedings are
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