Austria is modernising its intellectual property system: the 2026 Patent Law Amendment is currently under review
Austria is undertaking a fundamental overhaul of its intellectual property system. A comprehensive reform of patent law and other areas of intellectual property – involving amendments to nine laws – will bring about European harmonisation, simplified procedures and new protection of origin for regional products.
„In the European Innovation Scoreboard 2025, Austria ranked first in Europe for the filing of intellectual property rights. This clearly demonstrates that Austria is a country of innovation. To further strengthen this, we have enshrined the amendment of the Austrian Patent Act in our industrial strategy. With this amendment, which is now undergoing review, we are primarily pursuing three objectives: harmonising and simplifying procedures, ensuring the long-term functionality and quality of the national intellectual property system, and establishing a user-friendly system of origin protection that complies with EU law,” explains Innovation Minister Peter Hanke.
Stefan Harasek, President of the Austrian Patent Office: „This amendment will make access to intellectual property rights even easier, more straightforward and faster – for everyone who invents and designs in Austria. Anyone with a good idea should be able to focus on bringing it to fruition rather than on bureaucratic hurdles. That is precisely what we are ensuring with these changes.”
Protect nationally, think globally
Those who launch innovations in Austria rarely think solely of the domestic market. Austrian companies recently filed almost 11,000 patents worldwide – and to do so, they need a national intellectual property system that fits seamlessly into the international landscape. The amendment closes remaining gaps in relation to European practice: regarding the naming of inventors, deadlines relating to internationalisation, and other provisions that enable an Austrian patent to be used more effectively as a springboard for global protection.
Origin as a mark of quality
Another new development is the protection of geographical indications for industrial and artisanal products. Indications of origin, which already existed for foodstuffs such as the Wachau apricot, can now also be applied to products such as jewellery, textiles or porcelain. Artisanal products that are typical of a region can thus be identified as such and legally protected in future – in line with EU law and in a practical manner.
Further expansion of digitalisation
In parallel, the digitalisation of procedures is being further enshrined in law. Already today, around 95% of applications are filed online. Accordingly, in future, the digital channel is to be available across the board for all Patent Office services – procedures, registers, access to information – both in interaction with customers and in internal processing. Naturally, however, the option of analogue communication will remain available to all those who prefer this method.