II. Safety net

Yes

Pursuant to Section 5 of the PatV-EG, in the case where a European patent is not published in the German language - not later than three months after publication of the reference to the grant of the European patent in the European Patent Bulletin - a German translation has to be submitted to the Austrian Patent Office and a publication fee has to be paid.

If the patent holder applies for the unitary effect of the European patent under the new patent system, Section 5 of the PatV-EG is not applicable. If, however, the request for a unitary effect is rejected by the European Patent Office, it will be in the interest of the patent holder to maintain his patent right in the form of a European patent with effect for Austria.

Austria intends to introduce introduced a safety net: the draft of the law is intended to ensure ensures that the time limits for the translation and the payment of the publication fee are not expiring before it is definitively decided that the request for a unitary effect is rejected. This can also be the case after the outcome of judicial proceedings against the decision of the European Patent Office before the UPC under Article 32 (1) (i) of the UPCA. The date on which the decision of the EPO becomes effective or the date on which the decision of the UPC becomes effective will be the relevant date for the beginning of the time limit.