Which kind of restrictions applies to the patent law?

In patent law several kinds of restrictions exist. There is the temporal restriction, the right to continue use begun before the priority date, compulsory license and the rules of exhaustion. In general, it goes for the patent law that actions carried out with a non-commercial purpose, demonstration in connection with tuition, actions in connection with an experiment in which the use and further prospects of development are tested as well as actions for reverse engineering, where the patent is examined for other potential use, is not comprised by the patent law.

The provision regarding the right to continue use begun before the priority date relates to the situation where a prior user of an invention who did not file it with the patent authorities still have a chance of using his invention despite another person's patent; provided of course that no misuse takes place.

With regard to the rules of exhaustion it goes that if the inventor himself has put up his product for sale in Denmark or another EEC country or given his consent hereto he cannot make a claim for the invention at a later stage.

With regard to compulsory license, cases regarding this are filed before the Maritime and Commercial Court. In order for compulsory license to be announced you have to have the opportunity to use the license financially and technically, and you have to have made a reasonable effort trying to obtain a license agreement.