A new act governing the Norwegian Industrial Property Office will
come into force from January 1 2013. The act provides changes for the
organisation of the Board of Appeal, oral procedures and the possibility
to award legal costs during administrative review.
The Board of Appeal will be independent from the NIPO and organised
under the Ministry of Trade and Industry. The Board of Appeal replaces
the existing second instance procedure, which today is a part of the
Norwegian Industrial Property Office. The new organisation will ensure
an independent review of decisions appealed from the NIPO.
Both the Norwegian Industrial Property Office and the Board of Appeal
may summon to oral proceedings whenever they find it necessary in order
to illuminate the case. Oral proceedings may be held in all kinds of
proceedings during the prosecution of applications, in opposition and
appeal proceedings, and in proceedings for administrative review. Today,
oral proceedings are normally only held by the request of a party. A
party to the proceedings may still also request oral proceedings to be
held, but a justifiable basis for the request must be provided by the
requesting party.
The act also provides the NIPO and the Board of Appeal with the
possibility to award legal costs in favour of the fully successful party
for cases concerning administrative review. The act only provides a may
and not a must. It is still the intention that administrative review
proceedings will be a simple and reasonable alternative to court
proceedings, and only reasonable costs needed in order to attend to the
interests of the parties involved may be awarded.
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| Kristine Rekdal |
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0161 Oslo
Norway
Tel: +47 46 90 30 00
Fax: +47 22 00 31 31
mailto@baa.no
www.brynaarflot.com