Austria
Patent/IP in Austria
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Intellectual Property
For a list of Patent Attorneys, please click on the 'Patent Attorneys in Austria' tab located above.
Intellectual Property, or IP, as it is colloquially called, is characterised as legal protection for commercially precious products of human intellect. There are, generally, three forms of IP: patents, copyrights and trademarks. Although these articles are similar many some ways, they each have individual idiosyncrasies and definitions which make them unique. Perhaps most importantly, there is no physicality to intellectual property. If effectively safeguards an intangible idea or process.
Patents
Generally speaking, patents are granted to inventors for inventions. These can include anything from machinery, tools, processes, chemicals, biotechnology, software, etc.
To qualify for a patent, an inventor must invariably create something that is:
- Of patentable matter
- Unique to patentee
- Merited and can be utilised
- Innovative
- Non-obvious
Under a patent, the patentee reserves the right stop or limit others from utilising and trading the invention. Without explicit permission from the patentee, persons using the patent in any of these ways are infringing, and could be subjected to legal action
Applying for a Patent
The documents needed for patent applicationsin Austria are much simpler than other countries. What must be included is:
- Power of Attorney
- Two descriptions
- Abstract and claims in German
- Illustrations
- Petition for application
In some circumstances, filing an application in English is acceptable, but this can only be for a provisional basis. A German version must be sunmitted two months after any request from the Patent Office. The naming of inventors is not mandatory.
The duration of a patent is 20 years from the date of the patent application. European Patents are granted under the European Patent Convention (EPC).
Trademarks
Trademarks are used to denote epithets, logos, symbols, slogans, etc, that are individual to a business and product. Fundamentally, the things that distinguish your product or service from a competitor's. Businesses understandably go to endless lengths to have control over their trademarks. Therefore, any persons found infringing upon them through unlawful use could be subject to legal action.
Famous examples of trademarks are Coca Cola and McDonald's.
Applying for a Trademark
Trade marks are defined by the Austrian Trade Mark Protection Act
(Markenschutzgesetz, MSchG). The application for registration has to be filed with the Austrian Patent Office. It has to specify the goods and services for which the mark is intended to be used.
Copyright
Copyright gives someone to sell and reproduce a protected product, which is invariably printed work. Things like books, magazines, websites, photographs, music, filmand art are common examples of copyrighted work. Copyright denotes five rights of the author, artist, etc: reproduction, distribution, adaptation, performance and display. Use of such materials or works without the explicit permission of the copyright holder is classed as infringement, and persons doing so could be subject to legal action.
