Norway

Firm overview

Acapo is one of the leading Intellectual Property consultancy firms in Norway with offices in Bergen, Oslo, Trondheim and Fredrikstad. Acapo deals exclusively with intellectual property rights, and we cover the whole range og IPR services. We represent a large number of successful national and international companies as well as several research institutions with respect to their intellectual rights. We always aim for the highest degree of quality and service.

Our services include advisory services within all fields of IPR. Filing and prosecution of applications for European and Norwegian patents is within our core field of business. Our lawyers attend to litigation of cases pertaining to i.a. patents, trademarks and marketing law. The highly skilled staff of Acapo handles filing of applications for Norwegian trademark and design registrations.

As a full-serviced IPR-firm, Acapo also attend to maintenance of patents, and design and trademark registrations.

Memberships:
INTA, FICPI, ITMA, EPI, The Norwegian Patent Attorney Association , Marques, LESI, The Norwegian Bar Association.

Last Updated 28th June 2018

Firm overview

Håmsø Patentbyrå AS is one of Norway’s leading firms of patent and trademark attorneys. The firm acts for a variety of clients, including individuals, SMEs, research institutions and corporates - to obtain and maintain patents, registered trademarks and registered designs.

In the area of patents, the firm has a solid foundation of EQE qualified European Patent Attorneys who specialise in drafting and prosecuting patent applications. Over recent years, the firm has been one of the top filers of new patent applications from private practice prosecution firms in Norway.

The firm is regularly and increasingly instructed by overseas patent and trademark firms, e.g. private practice firms from the USA and elsewhere, to represent clients locally at the European Patent Office (as well as the Norwegian IP Office). We are regularly called upon to assist in litigation, questions of infringement and validity, due diligence and product clearance work.

We represent clients directly before the Norwegian IP Office and the European Patent Office. In the last couple of years, we have also acted directly in oral hearings including in opposition proceedings at the EPO. Several of our attorneys are certified to act or have practiced in other European jurisdictions. This provides us with in depth international experience, and on this basis we also act directly in certain proceedings before other IP offices in Europe, such as the UK, Sweden and Denmark. We also routinely prosecute cases for clients in proceedings before other IP offices in jurisdictions worldwide through our network of overseas associate attorneys.

Seven different nationalities are represented in our team of attorneys. The team draws on experience from private practice and in-house IPR departments from major European jurisdictions. The patent team members all have technical degrees, and several attorneys have practical experience from engineering or technology companies. Furthermore, several of our patent attorneys are PhD qualified.

Håmsø Patentbyrå AS is the Scandinavian representative of the pan-European AIPEX-network which specialises in bespoke, one-point-of-contact IP solutions and management for international technology companies with significant European IP portfolios. Håmsø Patentbyrå AS continues to act as regional counsel within AIPEX on large patent portfolios for such companies.

Håmsø Patentbyrå AS has experienced 70 years of continuous growth. In 2019, ownership changed hands to a new partnership of seven of the firm's existing team including its CEO, head of patent department, head of trademark and design department and several European qualified patent attorneys.

Our head office is in the Stavanger region of South West Norway, in what is arguably the most innovative region of the country. The firm continues to enjoy a solid local client base and regular instructions for new patent and trademark filings from domestic and international companies. 

Network Memerships:

• Foreningen for norske IP-rådgivere (FONIP)
• Fédération Internationale des Conseils en Propriété Industrielle (FICPI)
• Institute of Professional Representatives before the European Patent Office (EPI)
• The Netherlands Institute of Patent Attorneys
• The Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (UK)
• Norwegian Association of Intellectual Property Administrators (NAIPA)
• International Trademark Association (INTA)
• A European association representing the interests of brand owners (Marques)

Firm overview

Plougmann Vingtoft is an award-winning IP consulting firm that specialises in handling, protecting, and commercialising IPR as well as the strategic use hereof.

Plougmann Vingtoft has a large team of dedicated employees working out of the headquarters in Hellerup (Copenhagen) and three additional offices in respectively Aarhus, Oslo and Munich.

Further, the firm has a comprehensive network of business partners and agents around the globe, which enables the firm to provide services for clients in any part of the world, both directly and through international agents.

In addition, Plougmann Vingtoft has a strong focus on increasing international outreach, especially in the USA and Asia.

Full-service IP Consulting:

Plougmann Vingtoft is a full-service consultancy. The firm employs some of the best patent-, trademark and design attorneys, including 12 examined European Patent Attorneys and 5 European Trademark and Design Attorneys, as well as a well-educated team of paralegals to support attorneys and handle all IP administration, which ensures a cost-efficient, well-operated and highly professional service to all clients.

In addition, Plougmann Vingtoft has 7 UPC representatives that are qualified to represent clients before the Unified Patent Court (UPC) and 1 part-time technically qualified judge in the UPC.

Besides well-known IP services, Plougmann Vingtoft firm has an in-house commercialisation and tech-transfer team, which is marketed under a separate brand “tto” (www.tto.eu). tto specialises in generating value from new technologies in combination with IPR. The tto experts assist clients facing challenges in a transition phase from early-stage development to commercialisation or exit.

Selected services:

Plougmann Vingtoft’s IP attorneys conduct searches and analyses, prepare IP strategies and evaluations in addition to drafting and prosecuting IP applications.

Also, the company has extensive experience in representing various firms in complex opposition and litigation cases before the European Patent Office (EPO) and national courts in Denmark and Norway.

Recognition & awards:

For 14 consecutive years, the company has been placed in Managing IP’s Tier 1.

In 2023, Plougmann Vingtoft received the “Patent Prosecution Firm of the Year – Denmark” award for the second time at the Global IP Awards.

IAM Patent 1000 describes Plougmann Vingtoft as follows: “With broad and extensive technical capabilities, Plougmann Vingtoft is one of the best IP firms in Denmark. Working side by side with the client, its practitioners provide regular reports and overviews, paired with training focused on the importance of IP rights and strategies.”

While WTR 1000 writes the following: “Full-service IP consultancy Plougmann Vingtoft has a roster of loyal clients from heavy-hitting brand owners to smaller entities and entrepreneurs, one small company notes: “the experts at Plougmann Vingtoft kept us updated every step of the way and made what would have been a daunting, if not impossible, task for us to handle ourselves an easy process.”

Firm overview

Zacco is an international full-service IP firm, with over 100 patent attorneys, 70 trademark and design professionals including 40 attorneys at law, 20 experts in corporate domain management and online brand protection, and 20 cybersecurity specialists . We operate globally and in most sectors, and our aim is to view the world as our customers do, building practical IP strategies that secure their ideas, innovations and brand character.

Together we help organisations to develop, manage and protect the value of their IP throughout its lifecycle. Combining physical and digital solutions, from the creation of new assets and identities, to monetisation and enforcement of rights, to ongoing monitoring against infringement and abuse. Zacco, and many of our colleagues, regularly achieve Top Tier or Gold rankings and recommendations from Managing Intellectual Property, World Trademark Review, Intellectual Asset Management and The Legal 500, which we believe independently verifies our commitment to quality, excellence and innovation.

Patent, Trademark and Design Prosecution

Our international presence means a single point of contact can handle prosecution in multiple jurisdictions. Many of our colleagues are European Patent Attorneys, with a growing number authorised to represent clients directly before the Unified Patent Court (UPC). At Zacco, you will find a skilled and knowledgeable IP practitioner able to advise and assist you with all current and emerging fields of technology, whether you work physically in chemistry, greentech, mechanics, materials or biotech, or digitally in digitalisation, software, AI or machine learning, among other areas.

Our trademark and design practice assists all industries with international filing and prosecution, availability and infringement opinions, with a particular focus on EU trademark practice including oppositions, cancellations and appeals before the EUIPO.

We cover multiple European jurisdictions directly including the EUIPO/EPO, the United Kingdom, Germany, Norway, Sweden and Denmark, and we operate internationally through a comprehensive network of trusted long-term global partners. We also provide a range of IP portfolio management and IP support services.

Litigation and Disputes

When in need of expertise in IP litigation and dispute matters, clients can rely on Zacco. We are renowned experts in IP, with both the legal and the technical proficiency in-house to successfully represent your interests and enforce your IP rights. This could be directly, in cooperation with leading law firms, or providing litigation and technical support to other counsel or trusted representatives before the authorities.

The legal practice serves all industries with advice and assistance related to IP. This includes due diligence, drafting and negotiation of contracts or licensing agreements, or Data Protection, marketing law and other compliance matters. We also advise on e-commerce, litigation, domain name conflict resolution, customs surveillance and counterfeit prevention, among other areas. Zacco has successfully represented international clients in proceedings before national courts and the European Court of Justice.

Digital Brands, Corporate Domain Management and IT Security

With a significant portion of IP infringement now taking place online, we have introduced services to help clients stay ahead of new and emerging threats to both physical and digital IP. Our Digital Brands team can actively monitor your IP and brand rights online, identifying and removing

potential counterfeits or infringements across online marketplaces, social media and the metaverse. Our Corporate Domain Management experts can assist with the registration or acquisition of traditional and emerging domains, including .brand solutions, alongside more general renewals, portfolio consolidation and email or domain security. We also provide cybersecurity training and testing, digital forensics and secure software development services.

IP360: The Future of Intellectual Property

When the world changes, so do we. The introduction of IP360 recognised that IP rights do not exist within a bubble – they form part of a wider IP ecosystem that encompasses everything to do with protecting the value of an organisation. As we have grown, so too have our services, providing exceptional capability, unique geographical reach, and protection that stretches from the first flash of an idea through patents, trademarks, online brand protection and beyond, across the entire IP lifecycle.

More than 150 years of innovative thinking

We have a long history of protecting, monetising and enforcing IP, and list many leading brands and innovators as clients. Our focus on close collaboration, technical expertise and high quality makes Zacco one of Europe’s leading IP solutions specialists.