Recent developments in the Austrian IP landscape

On January 1, 2014 the procedure for all IP rights was amended. Now, all remedies against first instance decisions by the Austrian Patent Office (legal, technical and nullity departments) are to be brought before the Vienna Upper Provincial Court. After that, depending on the case, a referral to the Supreme Court is possible. Further, the Vienna Commercial Court now has competence in the first instance for all civil law trademark litigation.