Intellectual property law protects intangible assets such as ideas, knowledge, innovation, literary and artistic work, brands and designs. This is a complex area of law that covers many different types of rights and issues, ranging from whether a competitor has a trademark that too closely resembles your own or has imitated your product, to larger complex disputes involving patents or trade secrets. Intellectual property rights make up an increasingly larger part of a company’s financial assets and are often crucial for establishing and retaining important market positions.
Kvale has one of Norway's largest specialist groups within this area of law. Our team consists of dedicated and specialised lawyers with expertise in all forms of intellectual property rights.
Publications such as Legal 500, Chambers, IAM Patent and Managing IP rank Kvale as a leading firm within this area. Kvale received the Managing IP Awards "Norwegian Trademark Prosecution Firm of the year" in 2020 and the "Norwegian Patent Contentious Firm of the year" in 2021.
We provide strategic advice and assist with the protection of rights and agreements relating to intellectual property rights. Our lawyers also have considerable litigation experience in this area, and litigate cases both before the ordinary courts and alternative dispute resolution bodies such as the Norwegian Council dealing with unfair marketing practices (Næringslivets konkurranseutvalg).
Our services include:
- Registration of trademarks and designs.
- Disputes relating to the validity and infringement of trademarks, patents, or designs.
- Disputes relating to copyright infringement.
- Disputes relating to misuse of trade secrets.
- Advice relating to the protection of rights, and the preparation of internal IP strategies.
- Preparation of guidelines and advice for the protection of trade secrets.
- Preparation and negotiations in connection with licensing agreements, research and development agreements, agreements for the transfer of intellectual property rights, cooperation agreements and confidentiality agreements.
- Advice and assessments regarding "Freedom to Operate".
- Issues relating to intellectual property rights and employees.
