English
The average time frame for the registration approval is 6 months, if no objections or oppositions arise.
No. Protection for the registered mark is limited only in Austria.
Yes, a simple Power of Attorney is required.
Yes. Pre-filing benefits include:
- Show the mark’s distinctiveness;
- Defeat challenges on the grounds of non-distinctiveness.
Yes. Your mark will be vulnerable to cancellation of registration on the ground of non-use.
Any mark that can be represented graphically and can differentiate a product/service from others is acceptable for registration, including:
- Names
- Position marks
- Words
- Holograms
- Devices (with 2 dimensions)
- Sounds
- Shapes (with 3 dimensions)
- Colours
- Slogans
- Trade dress
The sequence of trademark application in Austria in as follows: examination, registration, publication.
- Examination – Once the application was submitted to the trademark office, authorities will examine several factors to see if the mark is registrable. To avoid refusals, make sure that your mark is compliant with respect to morality, formalities, classifications, clarity, descriptiveness, etc.
- Registration – If the mark passed the examination stage, registration will be granted. Note that at this point, the trademark authorities have not yet checked if there are existing similar registered marks.
- Publication – The following details will be made available to the public: mark, name and address of applicant, number and date of application, goods/services, priority claim, representation and representative. Online publication will give a chance to third-parties to appeal and oppose.
The following marks are non-registrable:
- Marks that go against moral standards and public policy
- Words that have a general meaning (generic terms)
- Marks that consist of flags, symbols or names of regions, nations, states and international organization
- Marks that lack distinctiveness
- Marks that serve primarily as surnames
- Marks that serve primarily as name geographic locations
No. The Nice Classification system is not effective in Austria.
Yes. A European Union Trademark registration is effective in Austria.
Yes. The filing date in your home country can be claimed as the filing date in Austria if:
- Your home country is a member of the Paris Convention
- The filing date in your home country does not exceed 6 months at the time of your application in Austria
- Your home country is a member of the WTO (World Trade Organization)
You must use the mark within 5 years from the date the registration was granted. This jurisdiction mandates owners to use the mark for commercial or business purposes and the transactions must occur in Austria.
A registered trademark in Austria is initially valid for 10 years. The computation will start on the date of registration.
The first trademark renewal must be made 10 years from the date the registration was granted (at the last day of that month).
Yes. Unregistered marks can be used legally for goods or services.
It is mandatory to register a mark in order to secure rights; this is the “first to file” rule.
The Austrian trademark office is available online at http://www.patentamt.at/
Actual use and intent to use are not required for registration.
Violation of proprietary rights is a ground for the application to be opposed.
Owners of an earlier registered mark can challenge the registration.
Yes. Registration of trademark can be cancelled on the following grounds:
- Issues of morality
- Proprietary rights
- Use of protected emblems or badges
- Bad faith
- Generic or broad meaning
- Conflict with famous and notorious marks
- Use of protected armorial bearings or flags
- Registration under agent’s name
- Rights under Article 8 of Paris Convention
- Mark is functional, misleading, descriptive, non-distinctive
- Use of geographical indication
- Rights in personal name
Yes. Owners of a registered mark in Austria secure the following rights:
- Exclusive rights to use and make profits from the mark
- Rights to challenge later conflicting applications
- Rights to appeal for the cancellation of later conflicting registrations
- Rights to file an infringement case against third parties that use confusingly similar marks
- Rights to authorize other persons to use the mark
- Rights to appeal for the confiscation of counterfeit imported goods
- Rights to receive damages for infringement
The opposition period will start on the date the mark was published. For national registration, it will end three months after the mark was published. For international registration, it will end three months after the publication period.
Yes. Austria is a member of the Madrid Protocol and Madrid Agreement.
No. Periodic statements or other filings that will prove the use of mark are not required.
Trademark renewals must be done every 10 years.
The first trademark renewal must be made 10 years from the date the registration was granted (at the last day of that month).
No documentation is necessary for renewing a trademark.
Yes. A grace period of 6 months after the expiration date is available.