Norway is a party to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

The Norwegian Copyright Act (2018) contains limited exceptions to copyright, including temporary copies, copies for private use or educational purposes, quotations, parodies, and for people with disabilities. It does not, however, contain fair use or fair dealing rights broadly defined. As a European Economic Area (EEA) member, the European acquis of copyright law also applies in Norway.

It has been consistently reported since 2017 that rightsholders argue the authorities have not accorded sufficient priority to cases concerning copyright infringement and internet piracy. Furthermore, research published in 2023 revealed that 22% of viewers aged 15 to 74 in Norway had illegally streamed or downloaded films or television episodes within a single month, representing an increase from 18% in 2022.

Norway has not signed the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty.

Norway has not signed the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Performances and Phonograms Treaty.

The Trade Secrets Act (2020) provides a framework for effective protection of trade secrets.

It is reported that passive sharing of telecom infrastructure is mandated and practised in both the mobile and fixed sectors. Moreover, Directive 2014/61/EU (Art. 3.2) has been incorporated into the European Economic Area (EEA) agreement, meaning it is technically required to be implemented in Norway.

The Norwegian Government controls 53.97% of shares in Telenor directly, as well as an additional 4.72% via the Government Pension Fund of Norway. Nonetheless, Norway has established a market regulator in the Norwegian Communications Authority, which has gradually sought to reduce the country's dependence on Telenor's networks.

It is reported that Norway does not mandate functional separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market. However, accounting separation is required in certain cases: in some markets susceptible to ex-ante regulation, the SMP operator (Telenor) is obliged to report accounting separation.

Norway has appended the World Trade Organization (WTO) Telecom Reference Paper to its schedule of commitments.

It is reported that the Norwegian Communications Authority (Nkom), the executive authority for the supervision and administration of services in the telecommunications sector, is independent from the government in the decision-making process.

The Norwegian Bookkeeping Act (Section 13) establishes local storage requirements for accounting data. However, exemptions can be sought – and are regularly granted – if adequate storage facilities cannot be found in Norway. Under an exemption, companies may store their data offshore so long as it can still be accessed by the Norwegian Tax Administration if required.

The Act on the Processing of Personal Data (Personal Data Act) implements the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the European Union in Norway. In addition to companies established in the European Economic Area (EEA), the Regulation applies extraterritorially to companies offering goods or services to data subjects in the EEA and companies that monitor the behaviour of EEA citizens (Art. 3).
The Regulation mandates that data is allowed to flow freely outside the European Economic Area (EEA) only in certain circumstances listed in Chapter 5 of the Regulation. The main conditions for such a transfer are the following: the recipient jurisdiction has an adequate level of data protection; the controller adduces adequate safeguards (for instance, by using model contract clauses, binding corporate rules or other contractual arrangements); the data subject has given his/her consent explicitly; or, the transfer is necessary for the performance of a contract between the data subject and the controller.
The GDPR allows for data transfers to countries whose legal regime is deemed by the European Commission to provide for an “adequate” level of personal data protection. The European Commission has so far recognised Andorra, Argentina, Canada (commercial organisations), Faroe Islands, Guernsey, Israel, Isle of Man, Japan, Jersey, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Uruguay as providing adequate protection. In addition, the EU-US Data Privacy Framework has acted as a self-certification system open to certain US companies for data protection compliance since July 2023.

Norway has joined two agreement with binding commitments to open transfers of data across borders. These include: Free Trade Agreement between Iceland, the Principality of Liechtenstein and the Kingdom of Norway and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Art. 4.11.1), and the Free Trade Agreement Between The EFTA States And The Republic of Moldova (Art. 5.11)