On 19.11.2021, the Austrian Parliament took one of the last steps necessary for implementing the EU-wide unitary patent and opening the Unified Patent Court. The Austrian Parliament approved the “Protocol to the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court on provisional application”, which enables the establishment of the Unified Patent Court. The Parliament approved the treaty on 2.12.2021 and the President of Austria could sign it into law before Christmas. Ratification by Austria would fulfill the required number of 13 ratifications for implementation and the final preparations could begin. Now, for example, competent judges will be appointed and the IT system will be set up. This preparatory phase will take at least eight months but may also take longer. Optimistically, the Unified Patent Court could open its doors as early as the second half of 2022. 

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Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs) effectively extend the protection afforded by patents for medicinal products by up to 5 years. This compensates for disadvantages caused by long approval processes: Generally, years pass between a patent application for a new active ingredient and the approval of a drug. Without an extension, the actual patent protection would therefore be reduced so that the time to recoup investments in research might be insufficient.

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The renowned international magazine “Managing Intellectual Property” annually presents the EMEA Awards in London, which recognize the best European intellectual property firms.

At the ceromony in London on March 5, 2020, Gassauer-Fleissner Attorneys at Law received the award for the best Austrian law firm in the “Patent Contentious” field. The IP-Team was also nominated for top Austrian firm in the categories Trademark Contentious and Copyright & Design.

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Dr. Gassauer-Fleissner, Dr. Göbel und Mag. Wegrostek at the award ceremony.

Editors Alexander Koller and Michael Stadler have put a lot of work and heart and soul into it: The commentary published in June 2019 by Linde Verlag for the first time offers a comprehensive commentary on Austrian patent and utility model law. 34 authors, all of them practitioners of patent law from the legal and patent attorney profession, the judiciary, the university sector, the public sector and industry, bring every single paragraph to life. GFR partner Manuel Wegrostek is honoured to have made a modest contribution on the chapters of exhaustion and the preservation of evidence.

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It is time for the yearly IPDAY at WU Vienna (Vienna University of Economics and Business) again! Taking place on Monday, September 30, 2019, the event will feature a number of presentations with a focus on copyright law in the digital single market as well as an interesting block on artificial intelligence. Outstanding international speakers will provide practical insights. An overview of recent case law in the field of intellectual property in Austrian and Germany is a further incentive for practitioners. Join us and register under https://www.ip-day.at/anmeldung.php?id=6.