At-a-glance:
The Austrian Patent Office, Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology
Dresdner Str. 87, PO Box 95, 1200 Wien, Austria
Tel: +43 (1) 5342 40, Fax: +43 (1) 5342 45 35
Email: info@patentamt.at
Website: www.patentamt.at
The...
[more]
At-a-glance:
The Austrian Patent Office, Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology
Dresdner Str. 87, PO Box 95, 1200 Wien, Austria
Tel: +43 (1) 5342 40,
Fax: +43 (1) 5342 45 35
Email: info@patentamt.at
Website: www.patentamt.at
The Austrian IP market faces fundamental change and could face what has been described as a "nightmare" scenario. Decisions on the nullity of patents and trade marks can be appealed from the Austrian Patent Office to the Supreme Patent and Trade mark Senate, a special court dealing with registered IP rights. However, unless a political solution is found, this special court is set to be abolished in early 2014 and competency will pass to the general federal administrative court. This is causing unease among practitioners. "The problem for IP practitioners is that at the appeal level, cases will go to the federal appeal court which is unspecialised," one partner says, adding that, "I don't know who the judges will be but it's likely that they'll be less experienced."
The Austrian Patent Office, on the other hand, has no doubt been affected by EU projects such as the introduction of Community trade marks (CTM) and European patents. "It [the Austrian Patent Office] is a lot better than it was 15 years ago," says one practitioner. "But the disaster is the time it takes to get things done." While the perception is that the patent office is old-fashioned, it does have some online services and is increasingly consumer-oriented. Nevertheless, it has some way to go and "has nothing on Alicante and Germany".
In a small and relatively subdued market for patent litigation, pharmaceutical cases make up most of the work. Nevertheless, there is scope for work beyond pharmaceuticals including classical engineering inventions.
Trade mark litigation is consistent but clients are more willing to settle than previously. For some practices, last year was the year of unfair competition litigation. However, others point out that the rise was due to legislation incorporating the relevant EU directive in 2007. "It's like a pendulum. One year it's trade mark and the next it's unfair competition. The areas are very complex," says one competition practitioner. "Trade marks, unfair competition and design rights are so closely linked. It doesn't make the distinction relevant."
[hide]