Trademark Application in Austria

Registering a trademark is an essential step for legal protection of your brand.

Trademark protection in Austria can be achieved by an EU trademark, an International Registration with a corresponding designation (AT/EU), or a national Austrian trademark.

This article provides an overview of the process for registering a national Austrian trademark. 

What should you do beforehand?

Before applying for a trademark, diligent research is recommended to reduce the risk of conflicts caused by prior trademarks or other rights.

There are some free research tools that you can use yourself, in particular, to quickly find identical trademarks:

•        see.ip of the Austrian Patent Office

•        TMview trademark data platform of the EU Trademark Office

•        eSearch plus for European Union trademarks

•        Global Brand Database of WIPO 

The Austrian Patent Office offers trademark similarity searches. The Patent Office's "Trademark Similarity Search" is currently available starting at EUR 105. The more extensive "Pre-Check," which also includes a preliminary assessment of protectability, costs from EUR 210.

Finally, there are various service providers offering products for this purpose. If you lack the relevant experience in-house, it is recommended to conduct the search through experienced attorneys-at-law or patent attorneys, or at least have them evaluate the results. 

Where do you file?

An Austrian trademark application must be submitted to the Austrian Patent Office.

Who files?

Both natural and legal persons can file a trademark application.

Representation is not required for applicants with a registered office or place of residence in the EEA or Switzerland – at most, an authorized representative for service of process is required.

For applicants with a registered office or place of residence outside the EEA and Switzerland, representation by an attorney-at-law, patent attorney, or notary public is required.

How much does it cost?

If the list of goods and services includes up to three classes, the application fee is currently EUR 280 if the application is filed online (EUR 300 for a paper application). EUR 75 is due for each additional class. Collective and certification marks are more expensive.

 If the application is filed by a service provider, their fees must also be taken into account.

How long does it take?

With a so-called "fast-track" application, registration can be achieved in around ten working days if the trademark is registrable. However, this form of application requires, in particular, that the trademark be a word mark, figurative mark, or word-image mark. The description of the goods and services must also use certain terms.

A "standard" online application takes two to four months, unless the Austrian Patent Office has objections. 

What is checked?

The application process consists of several steps:

• Formal examination: Evaluation of the completeness and correctness of the submitted documents.

• Substantial Examination: Evaluation of whether the trademark meets the necessary requirements for protection (distinctiveness, not exclusively descriptive, etc.).

If the trademark is registrable, it is recorded in the trademark register and published in the Trademark Gazette (published on the 20th of each month). If the Austrian Patent Office considers a trademark unregistrable, the applicant is notified and given a deadline to respond to the Office's concerns. If the application is rejected despite this, an appeal can be filed with the Vienna Higher Regional Court.

Prior rights are not considered in the examination by the Austrian Patent Office. The trademark will therefore be registered even if there are existing, even obvious, conflicting prior trademarks. 

And after registration?

After registration, owners of prior trademarks can file an opposition within three months of publication in the Trademark Gazette. This is, incidentally, a major difference from the EU trademark system: There, any opposition proceedings take place before registration and can significantly delay registration. Therefore, an Austrian application usually leads to a trademark that is enforceable more quickly, albeit only in Austria.

Apart from that, a request for cancellation is also possible after registration, in which more extensive reasons for invalidating the trademark can be asserted than in opposition proceedings. 

How long is protection granted?

Protection is initially granted for ten years from the filing date.

By timely payment of the renewal fees, the trademark can be renewed for additional ten years. The fee is currently EUR 700 if paid by the respective expiration date.

As Austrian attorney specialized in trademark law ZEMANN IP offers trademark application for a fixed fee - contact us for more information.