As of January 2025, a new Swedish Patent Act will come into effect, replacing the previous act from 1967. The new act will bring several changes aimed at modernizing the country's patent framework and align it with the European Patent Convention (EPC) and the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (the UPC agreement). This update is well-justified considering the latest statistics shows that more patent applications than ever are coming out of Sweden.
The most notable change is that the new act has been made more accessible through a linguistic modernization, clear subject headings, and a structure with separate paragraph numbering for each chapter. Below, we highlight some other key updates.
Simplified application process
One of the primary objectives of the new act is to simplify the patent application process. In order to do so the legislature has chosen to more clearly define the various parts included in an application and patent drawings will become an independent part of the application rather than being part of the description. Furthermore, the requirement for clarity in an application’s description has been adjusted to apply to the entire application. A new requirement stipulating that the application must be complete is also introduced.
Additionally, it will now be possible, upon payment of a fee, to have two or more independent inventions reviewed as part of the same application.
Updated provisions on patentability
The new act specifies that patents can be granted for inventions in all technical fields. Furthermore, the requirements for patentability, stipulating that patents can only be granted for inventions that are novel, involve an inventive step, and are industrially applicable, have been clarified.
The law will also introduce definitions for the terms novelty (Sw: nyhet), known technology (Sw: känd teknik), inventive step (Sw: uppfinningshöjd), and industrially applicable (Sw: industriellt tillämpbar). The terms inventive step and known technology are well established but does not explicitly appear in the 1967 Patent Act. These terms are now introduced to harmonize the act with the EPC.
Exclusive right to patent
To align the regulation with the UPC Agreement, a few amendments have been made regarding the patent holder’s exclusive right to use its patented invention.
The updated act introduces an exception to the exclusive right for the use of biological material in cultivating, discovering, and developing new plant varieties, as well as an exception for certain uses of computer programs. The new act explicitly states that the exclusive right to a patent does not limit such use of computer programs as referred to in sections 26 g and 26 h of the Swedish Copyright Act.
Moreover, the requirement concerning the degree of awareness necessary for certain uses to be considered an infringement has been amended, requiring that the person utilizing the patent have known, or reasonably should have known, that a particular use was not permitted.
The provision on the exhaustion of exclusive rights has also been adjusted, introducing a rule allowing the patent holder to oppose further commercialization of a product under certain circumstances.
A positive change for inventors and businesses
The updated Patent Act represents a step forward for inventors and businesses looking to protect their intellectual property in an increasingly competitive and globalized market. A more accessible and modern patent framework should benefit you whether you are an inventor, tech entrepreneur or manufacturer.
At Synch, we welcome the new act as a positive development for our many innovative clients. If you have any questions about patents, particularly patent disputes, or intellectual property matters in general, please contact Hugo Arrhenius at hugo.arrhenius@synch.law or any other member of our IP team.
