Ins and outs: IP protection and enforcement

01-02-2012

Lauri Rechardt and Timo Enroth

Patent applications must be filed in writing with the National Board of Patents and Registration (NBPR). Patent application forms are available on the Internet (www.prh.fi/en/patentit) and they can be filed in electronic form.

Patent basics

Due to Finland’s accession on November 1, 2011, to an agreement on the application of Article 65 of the London Agreement, which is a protocol relating to the European Patent Convention (EPC), Finnish patents may be filed and granted in English. An applicant may draft the application in either Finnish or Swedish and/or in English.

An applicant has to translate the patent application’s abstract and claims into Finnish or Swedish before it is made available to the public. The result will be a patent with its description in English, and its claims and abstract in English and in Finnish or Swedish. The NBPR may use English as the language of decisions for national patent applications alongside Finnish and Swedish on an applicant’s request. Foreign patent applicants can validate their European patents in Finland by submitting a Finnish or Swedish translation of the claims only, while the description can be submitted in English.


NBPR, patent applications, design rights, anti-counterfeiting, trademark threats, CIAPC, online piracy

WIPR