Patentstyret

What Patentstyret does

Patentstyret is the Norwegian Industrial Property Office, a state agency under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries (Nærings- og fiskeridepartementet) headquartered in Oslo. It is the sole Norwegian authority empowered to grant patents, trademarks, and designs with legal effect in Norway, and also processes international applications routed through WIPO (PCT, Madrid) and EPO channels. Its core products are three registration services: patent registration (granting up to 20 years of exclusive rights to inventions), trademark registration (10-year renewable protection for signs, logos, and names), and design registration (5-year renewable protection for product appearance, including digital artefacts). Supporting the registrations, Patentstyret operates free public search databases aggregating Norwegian and international registers, plus a suite of paid expert services (trademark pre-examination, Dialogue Search, Freedom-to-Operate Search, Novelty Search, Validity Search, Actor Overview, Patent Landscape Analysis), educational courses, a quarterly IP-insikt newsletter, and a public statistics portal.

The agency serves a structurally diversified customer base: Norwegian businesses seeking domestic protection, international entities pursuing Norwegian coverage via PCT/Madrid, startups and entrepreneurs building early IP portfolios, and individual inventors. The business model is fee-based on statutory schedules set by regulation, with both one-time application/registration fees and recurring renewal/maintenance fees that create annuity-like revenue. Pricing is tiered by entity size (reduced fees for companies with ≤20 employees) and by service type (per-class for trademarks, per-claim for patents, hourly/fixed for search services). Distribution is primarily self-service through the patentstyret.no portal, Altinn integration for filings, and a phone/email customer service center, augmented by free in-person guidance sessions, educational seminars, and partnership referrals to Innovasjon Norge for specialized consulting.

Strategic positioning emphasizes educational outreach and ecosystem integration: the free Navnesøk service ties together trademark, domain, and company-name registries through partnerships with Norid and Brønnøysundregistrene; from June 2026, applicant data is auto-populated from the central Einingsregisteret. The organization is governed by a director (Kathrine Myhre, in role since January 2021) and a leadership team spanning patents, trademarks and design, legal and international affairs, digital services, business management, and market/communications/HR. Named customers span AutoStore, Bryn Aarflot, Ocean Sun, DigiFarm, Kongsberg Seatex, and Veenner AS, illustrating use cases from large tech firms to early-stage inventors.

Name

Patentstyret

Legal name

Patentstyret

Website

https://patentstyret.no

Company type

Private

Founded year

1911

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Patentstyret is the Norwegian government agency that grants patents, trademarks, and designs with legal effect in Norway. It serves Norwegian and international businesses, startups, and individual inventors seeking domestic IP protection and access to Norway's IP registries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Intellectual Property Registration Services

NAICS

Regulation, Licensing, and Inspection of Miscellaneous Commercial Sectors (926150)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

IP Filing, Annuities & Renewals Administration (BPAHAMAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Patent Prosecution & Portfolio Management (BPAHAMAA), Trademark Prosecution & Brand Protection (BPAHAMAB), IP Search, Watch & Competitive Intelligence (BPAHAMAI)

Keywords

• Patent registration services
• Trademark registration services
• Industrial property rights
• Design registration services
• Intellectual property administration

Headquarters

HQ city

Oslo

HQ country

Norway

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Official Fees and Charges: Patentstyret generates revenue through statutory fees for processing patent, trademark, and design applications, renewals, and related administrative services. Fees are set by regulation and include application fees, annual maintenance fees for patents, renewal fees for trademarks and designs, and charges for various searches and examinations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Patentstyret is Norway's national industrial property office, administering the registration, examination, and grant of patents, trademarks, and designs under Norwegian law. The agency processes applications, conducts novelty and registrability examinations, manages the official IP registers, and provides public access to searchable databases and IP information services.

Product overview

Patentstyret is the Norwegian Industrial Property Office, a government agency under the Nærings- og fiskeridepartementet (Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries). Its core offerings are the registration of patents, trademarks (varemerke), and designs in Norway. These three registration services form the primary product suite. Supporting the registrations, Patentstyret offers a broad range of supplementary services: free and paid search tools across Norwegian and international databases (Search registers and databases / Navnesøk); preliminary examinations (forundersøkelser) for both trademarks and patents; expert search services including Dialogue Search, Freedom to Operate Search, Novelty/News Search, Validity Search, Actor Overview, and Patent Landscape Analysis; free specialist guidance for trademark applicants; a quarterly IP-insikt newsletter; a statistics portal with daily updates; the Tidende official gazette; and educational offerings such as the IP Strategy for Startups course, Trademark and Design Breakfast seminar, and name selection guidance. Patentstyret also publishes research reports and patent landscape analyses. The portfolio is unified around a common digital platform accessible via Altinn, with services delivered both self-service online and through expert-assisted engagements.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Patent Registration (Patent)
• Trademark Registration (Varemerke)
• Design Registration (Design)
• Navnesøk and Patent Search Databases

Quantifiable outcome

• 90% of values in innovative companies can be intangible
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• NoridcoreTechnology or IntegrationNorid manages .no domain names. Partnership enables combined search service (Navnesøk) that checks domain names, company names, and trademarks in a single search.
• Brønnøysundregistrene (Brreg)coreTechnology or IntegrationGovernment registry containing company information. Partnership enables Navnesøk service to check company names alongside trademarks and domains.
• Innovasjon NorgeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInnovasjon Norge (Innovation Norway) provides advisors who can advise on protecting innovation. Patentstyret refers businesses requiring specialized IP consulting beyond government guidance to Innovation Norway's advisors.
• WIPOcoreTechnology or IntegrationWorld Intellectual Property Organization. Patentstyret processes international patent applications under the PCT system and trademark applications under the Madrid system.
• EPO (European Patent Office)coreTechnology or IntegrationEuropean Patent Office. Patentstyret validates European patents in Norway and collaborates on search services.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Danish Patent and Trademark Office (DKPTO): Denmark's national IP office handling patents, trademarks, and designs. Closest Nordic peer with similar mandate, fee structure, and statutory authority, often used for cross-Nordic benchmarking.
• European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO): EU agency managing EU trademarks and registered designs. Direct peer for trademark and design examination work, with overlapping mandate in registration of EU-wide IP rights.
• Finnish Patent and Registration Office (PRH): Finland's national IP office with parallel mandate to handle patents, trademarks, and designs. Directly comparable in scale, scope, and statutory authority, and a fellow member of the Nordic Patent Institute.
• German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA): Germany's national IP office and one of Europe's largest patent offices. Direct peer with similar scope of registration services and statutory authority for patents, trademarks, and designs.
• Swedish Patent and Registration Office (PRV): Sweden's national IP office and key Nordic peer. Handles patent, trademark, and design registration under nearly identical statutory framework, with active collaboration through the Nordic Patent Institute.
• European Patent Office (EPO): Regional patent granting authority covering European Patent Convention states including Norway. EPO is the most direct functional peer, performing patent examination, granting, and opposition services at a regional scale that competes with Patentstyret's national role.
• UK Intellectual Property Office (UK IPO): United Kingdom's national IP office with broad patent, trademark, and design registration responsibilities. Comparable in scope of services, statutory authority, and digital delivery model.
• INPI France (National Institute of Industrial Property): France's national IP office handling patents, trademarks, designs, and geographic indications. Direct peer with comparable structure, fee-based revenue model, and statutory authority.

Broad incumbents

• USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office): United States' national IP office with the world's largest patent and trademark examination operation. Broad incumbent with similar statutory mandate but vastly greater scale.
• World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO): Global UN agency administering PCT and Madrid systems. Patentstyret acts as a receiving office for WIPO, making WIPO both a partner and a broader incumbent that handles international IP coordination and policy.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/patentstyret
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/patentstyret
• Instagramprivacycenter.instagram.com/policy/?entry_point=ig_help_center_data_policy_redirect
• Xx.com/Patentstyret

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Patentstyret