Patent registration in Denmark. Denmark, officially the Kingdom of Denmark, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. Denmark ranks highly in some metrics of national performance, including education, health care, protection of civil liberties, democratic governance, and LGBT equality. Denmark is a founding member of NATO, the Nordic Council, the OECD, OSCE, and the United Nations; it is also part of the Schengen Area. Denmark maintains close political, cultural, and linguistic ties with its Scandinavian neighbors, with the Danish language being partially mutually intelligible with both Norwegian and Swedish. Accordingly, many businesses want to enter this market and one of the most important preparations a business needs to take before expanding to this country is to learn the procedure of patent registration in Denmark.
Patent in Denmark
To be patentable in Denmark, the invention must:
- Be new (global novelty);
- Differ essentially from the prior art;
- Be industrially applicable.
Patents can be granted for products, methods, apparatuses, and applications.
Necessary documents for patent registration in Denmark
The necessary documents for patent registration in Denmark include:
- The request to grant a patent (patent application);
- Detailed information on the applicant(s) including the applicant’s and inventor’s names, addresses, citizenships, etc.;
- A description of the invention;
- A signed and stamped power of attorney by the applicant(s);
- A copy of the amendments (if any);
- Priority documents (if any).
- Other required documents.
To claim priority in Denmark, the applicant needs to file the patent application within 12 months from the priority date.
This term may be restored if a request for re-establishment is filed within 14 months from the priority date. The term can only be restored if certain formal requirements are met and all due care can be proven.
The official language of patent applications is Danish and English. Accordingly, the applicant may file the application in both English and Danish. However, a Danish translation of the necessary documents should be submitted to the IP Office, including patent claims.
Novelty grace period
The novelty grace period for patent registration in Denmark is 6 months before the filing date. This means that for circumstances in which the disclosure has occurred as an evident abuse in relation to the applicant or display at an exhibition falling under the Convention on International Exhibitions, the patent application will still be considered valid.
The procedure of patent registration in Denmark
To obtain a patent in Denmark, the applicant needs to file their patent application to the Denmark IP Office.
The patent application will go through a novelty search and a patentability examination when being examined. The result will be notified to the applicant within 6 to 10 months from the filing date, detailing the patentability of the subject invention.
If the invention is patentable, a patent will be granted to the applicant after approximately 3 years. This process may receive acceleration.
Besides the traditional filing, the applicant can also apply for other methods of patent registration, including filing through the PCT Treaty, European application (EP).
The official grant fee for the Denmark patent must be paid within two months of the Granting Notice. The 1st-3rd maintenance fees should be paid by the end of the 2nd year of the patent application. The rest of maintenance fees needs to be paid yearly.
You can see a list of Denmark IP firms here.