International Protection

There is no such thing as a global patent. Anyone wishing to protect their invention in multiple countries must file applications with the respective national or regional patent offices. However, as a member of numerous international agreements, Austria offers favorable conditions for doing so.

There are three main avenues:
•    Subsequent national applications filed directly with the respective patent offices
•    An international application under the PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty)
•    A European patent application with the EPO (European Patent Office)

Which route is the right one depends on how many countries and regions your invention needs protection in.

When you first apply for a patent or utility model, you receive what is known as priority for the filing date.
This means that anything published or filed for a patent after the priority date does not affect your chances of obtaining invention protection – you have secured a temporal priority.

After the initial application, you have twelve months to claim your priority for subsequent applications at the patent offices of nearly every country in the world – including for PCT applications and European patent applications. The initial national application with the Austrian Patent Office thus gives you a full year’s buffer for strategic decisions.

If you wish to protect your invention only in specific countries – for example, in German-speaking countries, the U.S., or China – filing subsequent national applications directly with the respective patent offices may be the right approach. These must be filed within the priority year.

With the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH), you can also request expedited processing of your application at partner offices of the Austrian Patent Office.

Tip: The search results from your initial application with the Austrian Patent Office provide initial indications as to whether internationalization has a chance of success.
 

If you are pursuing protection in as many countries as possible – or wish to keep that option open – you can file an international application under the PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty). This gives you the opportunity to obtain a patent in over 150 member states as well as a European Patent.

In addition to the twelve months for claiming priority, a PCT application offers an additional 18 months of reflection for strategic considerations. The Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) can also be utilized. However, the final decision on patent grant is made by the respective national or regional patent offices – there is no central granting authority.

You can file a European patent (EP) with the European Patent Office (EPO) as an initial application or a subsequent application. It is examined centrally and granted for all 40 member states – and can be extended to additional extension and validation states upon request. After grant, however, it is considered a bundle of national patents and must be enforced individually in each country. Additionally, for countries in which the EP has not been published in the official language, translations must be submitted and fees paid for this.

Since June 1, 2023, the European Unitary Patent has also been available. It has unitary effect in currently 18 countries, is enforced centrally before the Unified Patent Court (UPC), and requires only one annual fee. The conversion of a traditional EP into an EUP must be requested within one month of publication.