Our Approach

Our values permeate the way we work at the Danish Patent and Trademark Office. A continuous curiosity about new opportunities is a constant driver when we examine IP rights, and we work together closely to achieve results that make a difference to our customers. We engage relevantly, responsively and competently, and by learning constructively from our mistakes, we maintain a high level of quality.

How we work

Dialogue

We have a dialogue-based approach to examining all IP rights. Our examiners are easy to reach and are always ready to answer questions or enter a dialogue about your case. We find that a dialogue-based approach saves time and office actions.

We use dialogue to qualify our patent examination

Regardless of the type of application, we aim to have personal contact with our customers. If we need further information regarding an application, we always contact the applicant or his/her representative.

Applicants of a national patent have the option to request a pre-examination meeting - physical or digital - where the invention can be presented to the examiner before the search and examination starts. This works as a qualifying element for the process. To facilitate further processing of the application and limit the number of office actions, we also offer a post examination meeting.

Dialogue in trademark and design examination speeds up the process

It is not unusual that applicants of trademark and design rights receive a telephone call from our examiners. Solving smaller issues with an application over the phone ensures that we can offer a smooth and speedy process.

We always provide contact information of the relevant examiner in our communication, thereby giving applicants the opportunity to discuss or ask questions about their application.

Quality

The Danish Patent and Trademark Office is ISO 9001 certified in the granting and registration of IP rights. The certification shows that we deliver a consistent quality in our services and working processes.

In order to further improve the quality of our work, all decisions and written communication regarding patent examination is peer reviewed internally by experienced examiners. Including a second pair of eyes in the examination process works as a safety net for our customers and ensures that communication with applicants is clear and understandable.  

Harmonisation

We have a strong tradition of cooperating with international IP organisations such as the EPO, EUIPO and WIPO on harmonising practice, and we often seek inspiration from other national IP offices in Europe and the rest of the world in this matter

Read more about our international cooperation

How we harmonise our patent practice

In the technical field, we continuously strive to improve our examination practice. Regular benchmarking against EPO regarding PCT examination shows that the examination done at Danish Patent and Trademark Office and EPO is aligned.

We examine national applications according to the same standard as PCT applications. Using the same problem-solution approach as the EPO when evaluating inventive step, we ensure that our applicants can move on with their application with confidence in relation to the most central element of the examination process.

 

How we harmonise trademark and design practice

The Danish Patent and Trademark Office works actively to harmonise trademark and design practice, for example in the cooperation between European member states under the European Union Trademark and Design Network.

We are frequent and dedicated participants in the working groups which outline Common Practice across the EU IP offices, always with the goal of improving the conditions for our customers.

Our work has resulted in a number if practice documents such as Use of a trade mark in a form differing from the one registered and Criteria for assessing disclosure of designs on the internet.

The practice documents are a good source of IP offices’ shared examination practices. All the published practices can be found on the network’s website.

Fast Track to Patent in Foreign Markets

Patent Prosecution Highway

Through our Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) programme, the Danish Patent and Trademark Office offers fast and cost-efficient processing of patent applications in selected countries. This means that applicants who are granted a patent through the Danish Patent and Trademark Office can request speedy examination in countries that participate in the programme.

Read more about PPH

PCT applications

We apply the same dialogue-based examination we use for Danish patent and utility model applications when we examine PCT applications.

Read more about PCT