Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) like patents, utility models, trademarks, and registered designs can be used in Austria to protect inventions, company names, and industrial designs. The National Center of Excellence offers the protection for inventions required to secure the interests of scientists in the Austrian Patent Office.
Technical inventions can either be protected by a utility model or a patent. They grant the right to prevent others from importing, making, using, or selling the innovation without authorization for a set amount of time. The right may be sold or licensed to another party. As territorial rights, patents and utility models are only valid for as long as the protection is granted, typically 20 years for patents and six to 10 years for utility models. If a technological invention is new, has an inventive element, and can be used in industry, it qualifies for patent protection. A utility model, as opposed to a patent, is subject to assessment for novelty but not for inventiveness or practicality. Utility model protection is typically awarded more rapidly than patent protection, but it also offers less protection and is only applicable in some countries.
The right to safeguard topographies, the three-dimensional architectures of microelectronic semiconductor products, can also be recorded in the semiconductor register.
Filing requirements in Austria
Although English and French can also be used to file an Austrian patent application, German is the official language. For applications submitted in German, English, or French, the Austrian Patent Office will search and produce a report on that search. However, following receipt of a formal invitation, the German translation must be delivered within two months.
You must provide the following information to acquire the filing date:
- a request to grant a patent containing the name and full address of the applicant(s);
- the patent specification in English, French or German;
- Power of Attorney form.
It is not usually required to furnish the Priority Document; however, it may be requested by the Patent Office.
A signed copy of the Power of Attorney is sufficient. It should be provided along with the application.
Novelty grace period
It would not invalidate the novelty of the invention if information about it was made public up to six months before the filing date as a result of an obvious abuse to the detriment of the applicant or his legal predecessor or as a result of the applicant or his legal predecessor has displayed the invention at an official or officially recognized exhibition.
Validity term
The official fees for granting and publication must be paid within two months of the date on which the Notice of Allowance was issued. Austria patents are valid for twenty years after the date of filing. After the patent is awarded, annual fees must be paid before the last day of the month when the filing date is an anniversary. Annual fees are payable each year, beginning with the sixth one. Within a grace period of six months, late payments are permitted with a corresponding cost.
Utility model
In Austria, utility model protection for inventions is another option only subject to official evaluation. Varieties of plants and animals cannot be protected. In Austria, utility model registration typically takes 8 to 12 months. The registration process takes 3–4 months unless an expedited registration is requested. In Austria, a utility model has ten years from the filing date as its maximum protection length.
Also contact us for Trademark registration in Austria.