The Act relating to the right to employees’ inventions [the 
Employees’ Inventions Act]  
Date  LOV-1970 -04-17-21 
Ministry  The Ministry of Justice and Public Security  
Last amended  LOV-2015 -06-19-65 from 1 October 2015  
Published  ISBN 82 -504-1211 -7 
Entry into force  1 September 1970  
Amends   
Made public   
Short title  The Employees’ Inventions Act  
 
Section 1. This Act applies to inventions patentable in Norway made by employees in 
public or private service.  
Section 2. Subject to the  limitations that follow from the provisions in Section 7 first 
paragraph, Section 9 and Section 10, this Act shall only apply where no agreements to 
the contrary have been made or m ust be deemed to exist.  
Section 3. Unless otherwise follows from this Act, employees shall have the same rights 
to their inventions as other inventors.  
Section 4. If an employee who is principally engaged in research or inventive work has 
made an invention  through the performance of these duties or if an invention is the result 
of a specified task assigned to the employee as part of his employment, the employer 
shall be entitled to demand that part of or all the rights to the invention be transferred to 
himself if the exploitation of the invention falls within the sphere of activity of the 
undertaking.  
If the invention has a connection with the employment relationship other than that 
referred to in the preceding paragraph, the employer may demand the right to exploit the 
invention if its exploitation falls within the sphere of activity of the undertaking . If the 
employer wishes to acquire a more extensive right to such an invention, he shall, within a 
period of four months after receiving notification of the invention pursuant to Section 5, 
have priority over others to conclude an agreement to that effect  with the employee.  If the invention has been made in circumstances that have no connection with the 
employment relationship, the employer, during the same period mentioned in the last 
sentence of the preceding paragraph, shall have priority over others to  conclude an 
agreement with the employee to take over, in whole or in part, the rights to the invention, 
if its exploitation falls within the sphere of activity of the undertaking.  The provision in 
this paragraph does not apply to universities and univers ity colleges.  
 
Section 5. An employee who makes an invention that is covered by the provisions of 
Section 4 shall, without undue delay, notify the  employer in wirting  about it, specifying the 
nature of the invention.  
 
Section 6. An employer that wishes to acquire the rights to an invention in accordance 
with Section 4 first paragraph or second paragraph first sentence must notify the 
employee of this in writing within four months of receiving the notification pursuant to 
Section 5.  
 
Until the expiry of t he said four months after the employer’s receipt of the notification 
pursuant to Section 5, the employee shall not be entitled, without the employer’s written 
consent, to dispose of an invention covered by Section 4 or to take any action that 
impairs the p ossibilities of patenting or exploiting the invention for a third party’s account. 
Provided that he has given such notification as referred to in Section 5, the employee 
may apply for a patent for the invention here in Norway  insofar as this right has not been 
transferred to the employer. The employer shall be notified in writing before such 
application is filed.  
Lecturers and academic personnel at universities and university colleges are 
nonetheless entitled to publish the invention if the employer was not ified of this in the 
notification of the invention pursuant to Section 5 and third -party rights are not an 
obstacle to doing so. If the above -mentioned conditions for publication are met, the 
employer is not entitled to take over the invention pursuant to Section 4. If the inventor 
has not taken steps to publish within one year of the notification pursuant to Section 5, 
the employer may nonetheless take over the invention. An employee who has reserved 
the right to publish his invention may not apply for a p atent for the invention without the 
employer’s written consent.  
 
Section 6 a. The King may issue regulations setting out more detailed provisions 
concerning the right to inventions made by employees at universities and university 
colleges.  
 
  
 Section 7. If an employer, pursuant to Section 4 or on another basis, acquires rights to 
an employee’s invention, the employee shall be entitled to reasonable compensation 
even if an agreement to the contrary has been concluded before the invention was 
made, except w here the value of the right taken over by the employer does not exceed 
the value of the services the employee may reasonably be expected to perform in return 
for his remuneration and other benefits that may be associated with his employment.  
 
When determin ing the amount of the compensation, special consideration shall be given 
to the value of the invention, the extent of the right that the employer has acquired, the 
employee’s conditions of employment and the degree to which the employment may in 
other resp ects have contributed to the invention.  
Legal proceedings for compensation must be instituted within five years of the date on 
which the employer acquired rights to the invention. If a patent has been applied for, 
legal proceedings may nonetheless be insti tuted within a year of the patent application 
being finally decided.  
Section 8. Where an application for a patent in respect of an employee’s invention is filed 
within six months after termination of his employment, the invention shall, unless the 
employee can produce evidence to the contrary, be deemed to have been made during 
the period of his employment insofar as its exploitation comes within the sphere of 
activity of the former employer’s undertaking and the invention is related to the inventor ’s 
principal duties, or the invention is the result of a specified task assigned to the employee 
while in the employer’s service.  
Section 9. An agreement between an employer and an employee to restrict the latter’s 
right to dispose of an invention that is made more than one year after termination of his 
employment shall not be binding upon the employee.  
  
Section 10. Notwithstanding any agreement to the contrary, the compensation fixed 
pursuant to Section 7 may be modified at the request of either of the parties where a 
substantial change has occurred in the determining circumstances. It shall not be 
possible, however, to invoke this provision to claim reimbursement of payments made to 
the employee on the basis of the previously fixed compensation . 
 
Section 11. Any person who unlawfully makes use of or divulges information concerning 
the inventions of a third party that has come to his knowledge through the application of 
the provisions of this Act shall be liable to a fine or a term of imprisonment o f up to three 
months.  
The same penalties shall apply to any person who violates the provision set out in 
Section 6 second paragraph first sentence.  
  Section 12. Any dispute arising from matters covered by this Act may be referred to a 
mediation board by either of the parties.  
Such board shall consist of a chairperson and two members. The rules concerning 
disqualification shall be the same as those that apply to judges. The chairperson, who 
must have the qualifications generally prescribed for professional  judges, and one of the 
members, who must have insight into and experience of matters concerning patent law 
and thereto related matters, as well as their deputies, shall be appointed by the King for 
a term of five years. The other member, who must have tec hnical insight into the field in 
which the invention is made, shall be appointed on an ad hoc basis by the competent 
ministry.  
At the request of either party or at the discretion of the board, two members may be 
added to represent employers’ and employees’  interests, respectively. These latter 
members shall be appointed on an ad hoc basis by the competent ministry. Where one 
of the parties is a member of an employers’ or employees’ association, the appointment 
shall be made in consultation with the respecti ve association.  If the dispute concerns an 
invention made by an employee at a university or university college, the ministry may 
instead expand the board by two members at the proposal of each of the parties.  
  
Section 13. The board shall endeavour to arrive at an amicable settlement between the 
parties, inter alia by presenting proposals that can serve as the basis for such a 
settlement.  
If the parties so agree, the board shall act as an arbitration court.  
The expenses of the board shall be covered out  of public funds.  
Detailed rules for the work of the board shall be issued by the King.  
Section 14. Once a case has been referred to the board for mediation, the said 
conciliation procedure shall apply in lieu of conciliation proceedings before the 
Conci liation Board.  
 
Section 15. This Act enters into force from such date as the King may decide . 
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