This weekend marked the national day of Norway, Syttende Mai. I have previously written about the celebrations connected to the national day, including the rules pertaining to the national (Bunad) dresses. Today, I describe the patent act that was in force when the Scandinavian Cheese Slicer (Ostehøvel) first got patented in 1925, 100 years ago this year.
In 1925, the 1910 Patent Act (Lov om patenter (LOV-1910-07-02-4) was in force. The law can be located either in the Norsk Lovtidende Avd. 1 for the year 1910 or in the Almindelig Norsk Lovsamling. The amendments made in 1920 can be found in Norsk Lovtidende Avd. 1 1920. (Lov om midlertidig tillegg til lovene om patenter av 16. juni 1885 og 2. juli 1910 (LOV-1920-07-16-9).)
Section 1 of the 1910 Patent Act provides that:
A patent protects, in accordance with this law, new inventions, which can be utilized in industry.
However, the following are excluded:
a) Inventions, the exercise of which would be contrary to law, morality or public order;
b) Inventions, the object of which is a nutritional, recreational or medicinal product or a chemical compound; however, a patent may be granted on the special manufacturing process.
In order to obtain a patent for an invention, a patent claim must be submitted to the Styret for det Industrielle Retsvern [literally Board of Industrial Legal Protection] in accordance with the provisions of this Act. (Chapter 1 § 1 Lov om Patenter. Translation by author.)
The law provided protection against the production and use of a patented product (§ 4) but also allowed for the use by the public, subject to compensation. (§ 8.) A patent holder that had not started production of a product within three years was required to allow others to produce the patented product. (§ 9.)
The Ostehøvel
Thor Bjørklund applied for a patent for his cheese slicer (ostehøvel) after being inspired by the plane (høvel) he used in his woodshop, as a better way to cut the cheese economically. The slicer was specialized to cut cheese thin and straight. The cheese slicer was introduced at a time in Norway when the population was poorer than today and cheese needed to last longer. A video on how to use it can be viewed here. A memorial book was published in 2000, Skjær pent av osten, (literally “carefully cut off the cheese”) inspired by a 1971 interview with Thor Bjørklund.
The patent was published in the Norsk tidende for det industrielle retsvern (1926) in no. 48, p. 234. The patent entered into force on February 27, 1925.
The patent itself is also made available at Stiftelsen Lillehammer Museum with both the 1925 patent announcement and patent text. An additional patent for changes to the cheese slicer was awarded in 1928.
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The 1925 patent text specifically describes the invention in relation to a planer as:
“This invention relates to a knife for cutting cheese etc. of the type that acts like a planer, where the cutting edge is formed by cutting out and bending down a platform-shaped part or is characterized mainly in that the portions of the plate-shaped part that are located at both ends are cut, are elastic and flexible so that the cheese, even if the angle of the blade in relation to the cheese surface changes during cutting.
A characteristic feature of the invention further consists in that the thickness of the cheese slice is regulated in a manner known during cutting by bending the plate-shaped part.” (Translation by author.)
The ostehøvel has become one of the most loved Norwegian inventions.
Norwegian Patent Law Today
Today, Norway regulates patent law in Lov om patenter (patentloven)(LOV-1967-12-15-9) (the Patent Act). An unofficial English translation of the Patent Act is published on the Norwegian Industrial Property Office website. Norway is a party to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (1885), the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PTC)(1980), and the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure (1977). Norway has ratified the European Patent Convention (EPC) and is a member of the European Patent Office (EPO).
Today, a patent application can be made by presenting an application to the Norwegian Industrial Property Office and paying the applicable fee. Applications can be made as an EPC application or a Norwegian application. If the patent is awarded, there is an annual fee to maintain the patent.
Examples of Law Library holdings related to Norwegian Patent Law:
- Tom Bryn, Norwegian Patent Law and Practice (1937)
- Leif Nordstrand, Internationalt patentsamarbeid / fra et utvalg oppnevnt ved kgl. res. av 31. mai 1968 (1976)
- Are Stenvik, Patentrett (2020)
Additional Law Library of Congress Online Resources on Norwegian Law:
- Guide to Law Online: Norway
- Global Legal Monitor: Norway
- Legal Reports: Norway
- In Custodia Legis: Norway
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