– Patents Act (1967:837), as amended up to Act (2023:216).
– Patents Decree (1967:838), as amended up to Regulation (2023:218).
– Act on Inventions of Importance to the National Defense (1971:1078), as amended up to Act (2016:195).
– Act on Inventions by Employees (1949:345), as amended up to Act (2016:189).

– Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, Stockholm Act, since October 9, 1970 (Articles 1-12) and since April 26, 1970 (Articles 13-30).
– Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), since April 26, 1970.
– Strasbourg Agreement Concerning the International Patent Classification, since October 7, 1975.
– European Patent Convention (EPC), since May 1, 1978.
– Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), since May 17, 1978.
– Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure, since October 1, 1983.
– WTO’s TRIPS Agreement, since January 1, 1995.
– The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille), since May 1, 1999.
– Patent Law Treaty, since December 27, 2007.
– London Agreement on the application of Article 65 EPC, since May 1, 2008.
– Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (UPCA), ratified on June 5, 2014.

Applicant: may be the inventor or his legal successor.

Protection for foreigners and nationals not living in the country: it is not required to have a representative resident in Sweden. However, since the correspondence with the Swedish PTO is in Swedish, a representative is needed if the applicant cannot communicate in Swedish.

Naming of inventor(s) and applicant(s): the name and address of the inventor and the applicant (if the applicant is not the inventor) must be stated, and his representative’s name and address, if any.

Types of patents: PCT, EPC and Swedish National.

Notion of the invention: patents are granted for inventions that can be exploited in industry and which are substantially different from the prior art.

Novelty: everything made available to the public in writing (such as the documents of patent applications available to the public) or orally (such as in lectures) by public use or otherwise, anywhere in the world (absolute novelty) and the contents of a patent application filed in Sweden of an earlier date and not yet available to the public, if the said application is made available to the public.

Novelty grace period: there is no grace period for patents in Sweden. Exceptions: prior publication within six months before the filing date is not a bar to novelty, if (1) the invention was made public through evident abuse by a third party; (2) the invention was displayed at an officially recognized international exhibition. (Warning! very few exhibitions are accepted).

Exceptions to protection (unpatentable inventions): inventions contrary to morality or public order; methods for surgical or therapeutic treatment or diagnostic methods, practiced on humans or animals; plant and animal varieties and essentially biological processes for the production of plants or animals (microbiological processes and products thereof are, however, patentable). A product may infringe a process claim when produced according to a patented process (indirect protection).

Kinds of protection: principal patents.

Secret patents: Act on Defense Inventions 1971:1078. Secret patent applications relating to the defense of the country are permitted.

Priorities: partial or multiple priorities are permissible. Priority must be claimed within twelve months from the filing date.

Territory covered: Sweden.

Filing requirements for an application (recommended) to be sent to resident agent:
1. Name and address of the applicant and the inventor(s), the title of the invention, and in Convention applications, the country, filing date and serial number of the basic application;
2. Name and address of the representative, if any;
3. Power of attorney, not legalized, if a representative is used;
4. Information about how the applicant has acquired the right to the invention from the inventor (if the applicant is not the inventor);
5. Specification (1 copy), if applicable;
6. Drawings if needed (1 copy), in black on white paper in DIN A4 format (210 x 297 mm);
7. An abstract comprising a summary of technical information regarding the patent application (of no more than 150 words);
8. Application fee shall be paid (minimum SEK 3,000 for ten patent claims, each patent claim in addition to the first ten costs SEK 150 (2012));
9. If the invention refers to a microbiological process or to products from such a process, a culture of the microorganism must be deposited in a recognized institution, if the microorganism is not available to the public or cannot be described in the application in such a way that a person skilled in the art can carry out the invention with guidance thereof. Such a deposition must be made not later than the date of filing or priority date, if priority is claimed. Proof of such a deposition must be submitted to the Patent Office within two months from the filing date.

Minimum requirements: identification of the applicant and the invention by stating the country, filing date and serial number of an application filed in another country. A certified copy and a Swedish translation of this application must be filed later.

Requirements for a PCT application: the PCT application shall be filed to the Swedish PTO, EPO or WIPO. The international application fee, the forward fee and the novelty examination fee shall be paid within one month from the filing date. The Swedish PTO accepts applications in Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish and English. The applicant will be requested to translate the application into Swedish before it becomes publicly accessible.

Priority: priority should be claimed at the time of filing the application or within sixteen months from the filing date, or if that date is later, four months from the filing date according to Patent Act 8b and 8c §§ for the latest application. A certified copy of the basic application must be filed within sixteen months from the priority date. If the basic application is not in Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, English, German or French, the certified copy should be accompanied by a translation into one of these languages. If the applicant in the basic application and in the Swedish application are not the same, an assignment of priority rights must be filed.

Electronic filing: available for PCT, EP and Swedish National patents. Fees may also be paid electronically on www.prv.se

PCT applications: as from July 1, 2007, the time limit for entering the national phase under both Chapters I and II is 31 months from the priority date. Time limit for filing translation: 31 months from the priority date, upon payment of extension fee.

Examination (formal/substantive): the application is first examined as regards completeness and formal correctness. If deficiencies in this respect are found, the applicant gets a short term, two months, for correcting them. The application is subsequently examined as to novelty, technical effect and unobviousness, and deficiencies in this respect are pointed out in a technical official letter, to which the applicant is given a term of normally four months for replying, extendible by two months. If after the filing of this reply deficiencies still prevail, the Examiner may issue a second official letter, or may reject the application.

Accelerated examination: it is possible to apply for preferred handling, but this is only allowed under certain circumstances, for example during a process of patent infringement.

Appeals: a rejection decision may be appealed to the Court of Patent Appeals, and a rejection in this Court may be appealed to the Supreme Administrative Court. In both cases, the term for lodging an appeal is two months after the decision of rejection. The terms for reply, except as stated above, are non-extendible, and the application will lapse if a reply is not filed in time. It may, however, be reinstated within four months after it has lapsed, if a reinstating fee is paid and a reply is filed. This does not apply to terms for appeal and to priority terms, where the application cannot be reinstated if the term is not met.

Amendments: a patent application including the claims may be amended during the prosecution of the same, provided that no protection may be claimed for subject matter which did not appear in the application at its filing date. After the patent has been granted the claims may no longer be amended in such way that the extent of protection is broadened. As from July 1, 2007, the patent owner may request a limitation or a cancellation of the patent at the Swedish Patent Office. This amendment to the Swedish Patent Act has been made in accordance with Article 105a-105c of EPC 2000 and is applicable for national patents as well as European patents. The limitation will result in a reformulation of the claims or the description. A request can be filed as early as during the opposition period and is examined by the Swedish Patent Office. However, a request cannot be filed if there is an ongoing opposition procedure within the Patent Office or within the European Patent Office during a nullification process. A limitation or cancellation fee has to be paid. The Patent Office decision shall, if a limitation or cancellation has been made, be published and have retroactive effect as from the date of filing the application. A request for limitation or cancellation can also be raised in Court if there is an ongoing process.

Publication: the complete file of the application is made available to the public eighteen months after the filing date or the earliest priority date claimed in the application.

Division: independent inventions which are described in an application on filing may be divided out and filed in separate application(s), which must be filed before the applicant has approved the text of the parent application with which the Patent Office intends to grant a patent. If new matter is introduced into an application, this matter may be protected in a branched-off application. Such an application may claim as its filing date the date when the new matter was introduced in the basic application.

Objections of the Office: the applicant may supplement the application if the Office finds it incomplete.

Secrecy: eighteen months from the filing date or priority date, if the application has not been cancelled or rejected. The granted patent is public when it is published in “Svensk Patenttidning” (Swedish Patent Magazine).

Prior user disputes: if a prior user claims the right to the patent before the PTO, they may be submitted to the court if the PTO considers the matter is uncertain. The patent application may be transferred to the prior user.

If no obstacles appear to exist to the patentability, a final official letter will be issued, asking the applicant to state whether he approves the text with which the Patent Office intends to grant a patent. When the applicant has expressed his approval of the text, the Patent Office informs him that the patent may be granted and asks him to pay a granting fee within a term of two months, otherwise it will be cancelled. After the payment of the granting fee, the patent is granted and the patent document is publicly available from the date of grant. After the patent has been granted, the claims may not be amended in such a way that the scope of the patent is extended.

Publication: when the patent is announced granted, it is published.

Rights of prior user: the rights of the patent/patent application are transferred to the prior user, such as paying the fees.

Opposition: within nine months from the date of grant, any interested party may raise an opposition against the patent. However, as from July 1, 2007, the patent owner may no longer file an opposition against his own patent. As grounds for opposition may only be claimed that (a) the invention is lacking in patentable subject matter, novelty, technical effect and/or unobviousness; (b) the description of the invention is not sufficiently clear to enable a person skilled in the art to carry out the invention; or (c) the patent comprises matter which does not appear in the application as filed originally. An opposition may be considered even if it is withdrawn. If no opposition is raised, the Patent Office will inform the patentee to that effect after the end of the opposition term.

Duration: twenty years from the date of filing.

Extension: Supplementary Protection Certificates may be granted for maximum five years for patents for medical products and patents for plant protection products under certain conditions. 

Paediatric extension: available.

Annuities: annuities are due for applications as well as patents. The annuities for years 1-3 become due in the second year, after which the fees are to be paid annually. The due date is the last date of the month of filing.

Annuity grace period: annuities may be paid within six months after the due date, on payment of a 20% surcharge.

A European patent granted for an application designating Sweden will have the same effect in Sweden as a national Swedish patent, provided that a Swedish translation of the patent claims and a Swedish or English version of the description is filed with the Swedish Patent Office within three months from the publication of the mention of the grant in the European Patent Bulletin. The changes in the legislation concerning the language of the application were made in accordance with the London Agreement, which entered into force on May 1, 2008.

Assignment: may be recorded at the PTO.

License: may be recorded at the PTO.

Marking: is not a requirement. Marked products of false patent number is unlawful and may be a question of fair marketing according to the Marketing Act.

Failure of working: the patent cannot lead to loss of patent protection, but if the patent is not worked within three years after grant or four years after the application date, anyone may, upon showing good cause, apply for a compulsory license.

Invalidation: a patent may only be declared invalid in a court procedure. Anyone who considers himself to suffer damages from the patent may file a suit for invalidity. The decision of the District Court in such a case may be appealed to the Court of Appeal, and from this Court to the Supreme Court, provided that this Court and the Court of Appeal grant a review permit (such permits are rare in the Supreme Court). As grounds for invalidity may be raised: (a) the patent is lacking in patentable subject matter, novelty, technical effect and/or unobviousness; (b) the description of the invention is not sufficiently clear to enable a person skilled in the art to carry out the invention; (c) the patent comprises matter which does not appear in the application as filed originally; or (d) the scope of protection has been extended after the patent has been granted. It is possible for the Court to declare a patent to be partially invalid.

Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs): may be granted for a medical product or a plant protection product covered by the patent and which has been officially authorized for sale in Sweden. An application for such a Certificate must be filed within six months from this date of authorization or the date of grant for the patent, whichever is later. The duration of a certificate is the time elapsed from the application date until the date of the first authorization in any EEA country, minus five years. The maximum duration is five years.

Cancellation: the patent may be declared cancelled if the annual fees are not paid in time, or (a) the patent is lacking in patentable subject matter, novelty, technical effect and/or unobviousness; (b) the description of the invention is not sufficiently clear to enable a person skilled in the art to carry out the invention; (c) the patent comprises matter which does not appear in the application which was filed originally; (d) the scope of protection has been extended after the patent has been granted. It is possible for the court to declare a patent to be partially invalid.

Infringement and penalties: infringement of a patent, with intent or with negligence, may lead to penalty of fine or up to two years in prison.