15. Federal Act amending the Patent Law of the Federal Republic of Germany

The National Council has decided:

The Federal Act, which regulates the profession of patent law (Patentanwaltsgesetz), Federal Law Gazette (BGBl). No. 214/1967, as last amended by the Federal Act BGBl. I n ° 131/2005, shall be amended as follows:

1. § 1 (1) reads:

" (1) The profession of patent attorney is a free profession. Subject to Section 1a (1) and Article 16a (1), only those who are entered in the list of patent attorneys shall be entitled to exercise this profession. "

2. § 1 (3) reads:

"(3) The list of patent attorneys and the list of patent attorneys general are to be led by the Patent Attorneys ' Chamber."

3. § 1a (1) and (2) reads:

" (1) The exercise of the patent attorney's profession is also in the legal form of the company civil law, in the legal form of the open society or the Kommanditgesellschaft (Patentanwalts-partnership) and the society with limited Liability shall be permitted and may only be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the professional law. They are required to be entered in the list of patent attorates.

(2) The intended establishment of the Company shall be notified to the Board of Directors of the Patent Bar Association. The registration has to be included:

1.		the nature of the company and the company name, which has to contain a reference to the exercise of the patent attorney's profession, in the case of a patent attorney's partnership and a limited liability company, the firm (§ 19 paragraph 1 Z 4 UGB, BGBl. I No 120/2005; § 1b);
2.		the names, addresses and office of the office of the members entitled to represent and management, as well as the names and addresses of the other shareholders;
3.		the registered office of the Company;
4.		any further information which indicates that the requirements of Sections 21a and 29a are met;
5.		the declaration of all patent attorney's shareholders that they confirm the correctness of the application in knowledge of their disciplinary responsibility. "

4. § 1a (5) to (7) reads as follows:

" (5) In order to register a patent attorney's partnership or a patent attorney's company in the form of a limited liability company in the company's book, it is necessary to submit the declaration of the patent attorney's chamber that the registration be entered in the list of Patentanwalts companies will not be denied. A patent attorney may only be registered in the company's register if he exercises the patent attorney's profession in the form of a patent attorney's company. Registration in the company's register is a prerequisite for the registration in the list of patent attorates companies. It is to be shown to the board of the patent attorney's chamber.

(6) The registration of the professional title "Patentanwalt" in the company's book may only be made with proof of the consent of the patent attorney's chamber.

(7) The rules applicable to patent attorneys shall also apply to patent attorneys ' companies. "

5. § 1b (1) reads:

" (1) The company or the name of a patent attorney company may contain only the names of one or more of the following: a shareholder who is a patent attorney, or a former patent attorney who is involved in the exercise of the In the case of a patent attorney's profession, and at the time of the waived performance, the company was a shareholder or the firm which has been run as a patent attorney's company or individual company is being continued by the company. The names of other persons may not be included in the company. Only a reference to the exercise of the patent attorney's office shall be included as part of the substantive component. The name "partnership" may be replaced by the name "partnership" or, if the company does not contain the names of all partners, the words "and (&) partners", in the place of the name "Kommanditgesellschaft", the name "partnership" may be replaced by the name "partnership". Name "Kommandit partnership". "

6. § 1c is deleted.

7. § 2 reads:

" § 2. (1) The registration in the list of patent attorneys shall be subject to proof of the fulfilment of the following requirements:

a)		Austrian citizenship;
b)		Self-authorization;
c)		permanent headquarter in Austria;
d)		Completion of a total of at least five years of studies at a national university or equivalent studies at a university in the European Economic Area, or in the Swiss Confederation, which is an area of technology or of the The subject matter of natural sciences, or nostrification of the corresponding foreign academic degrees;
e)		Reconsideration of a practice (§ 3);
f)		successful filing of the patent attorney examination (§ § 8 et seq.) at the earliest one year before the completion of the practice;
g)		Liability insurance pursuant to § 21a.

(2) The nationality of a State Party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area or the Swiss Confederation shall be equal to the Austrian citizenship.

(3) In the case of persons who fulfil the conditions laid down in § 16a (1) with regard to the profession of patent attorney, the aptitude test (§ § 15a and 15b) replaces the requirements of para. 1 lit. d bis f. "

8. § 3 reads:

" § 3. (1) The practice shall be acquired by the following actual uses in normal working time:

a)		by using as a patent attorney at a patent attorney registered in the list of patent attorneys, or in the case of a patent attorney company registered in the list of patent attorneys, to the extent of five years;
b)		by being used as a patent attorney in the case of a patent attorney registered in the patent attorneys ' list or in the case of a patent attorney company registered in the list of patent attorneys, to the extent of two years if the patent attorneys general Patentanwaltscontender is a state-empowered and iced civil engineer;
c)		by a practical exercise in the field of industrial property protection corresponding to the seven-and-a-half-year period of the task of a patent attorney;
d)		by being used as a technical member of the Patent Office for a period of ten years.

(2) Where the practice is acquired by means of several uses in accordance with paragraph 1, the duration required shall be calculated in a proportionate manner.

(3) The twenty years of use as a technical staff member of the Patent Office shall be replaced, provided that they do not have at least fifteen years of use as a member of the Patent Office, the requirement of practice and of the examination (§ 2 para. 1 lit. e and f).

(4) Practical uses as referred to in paragraph 1 in the form of part-time employment shall be eligible if they include at least half of the normal working time; they shall be taken into account in the extent of the activity actually carried out.

(5) Para. 1 lit. (d) and (3) shall not apply if the applicant has been transferred to the permanent retirement or has been dismissed from the Federal Service on the basis of a disciplinary recognition.

(6) The practical periods must be proven by submitting suitable documents. The acquisition of the necessary practice shall be determined by the President of the Patent Office after consultation of the Patent Bar Association. "

9. § 4 (2) reads:

" (2) The registration in the list of patent attorneys shall, however, be refused if the applicant has committed an act which makes him unworthy of the trust which is usually brought against a professional party representative, or if he/she is for the duration of a disciplinary procedure directed against him, has waived the right to pursue the profession of patent attorney. "

Section 6 (2) reads as follows:

"(2) The Patent Attorneys ' Chamber shall indicate the registration in the list of patent attorneys to the Patent Office and the Supreme Patent and Trademark Senate and to arrange for the registration in the" Patent Bulletin " at the expense of the patent attorney in question. as well as to be published on the Internet on the homepage of the Patent Bar Association (http://www.oepak.at) without delay and in general terms. "

11. § 7 (1) reads:

" (1) The entitlement to the exercise of the patent attorney's profession shall be deleted

a)		in the case of loss of the person referred to in § 2 para. a or § 2 para. 2 required citizenship or citizenship;
b)		in the case of a legally binding appointment of a lawyer;
c)		in the event of a final opening of insolvency proceedings or the final dismissal of an application for bankruptcy proceedings, in the absence of a cost-covering asset;
d)		in the case of a final conviction for a crime or for any offence committed in the event of a profit or any such surrender, unless the entry of the legal consequences has been postponed;
e)		pursuant to Section 48 (1) (d) of the Disciplinary Proceedings of a Disciplinary Penalty imposed by a final sentence of law;
f)		in the absence of the patent attorney. "

Section 7 (4) reads as follows:

"(4) The patent attorney's chamber has to indicate the deletion in the list of patent attorneys to the Patent Office and the Supreme Patent and Trademark Senate and to arrange for the registration in the" Patentblatt " at the expense of the patent attorney in question. as well as to be published on the Internet on the homepage of the Patent Bar Association (http://www.oepak.at) without delay and in general terms. "

13. In accordance with § 7, the following § 7a is inserted:

" § 7a. (1) The entitlement to exercise the patent attorney's profession shall be:

a)		for the duration of the task of the permanent head of office in Austria;
b)		for the duration of the exercise of a public service, provided that it is not a Magisterium;
c)		for the duration of the appointment as a member of the Supreme Patent and Trade Mark Senate;
d)		in the case of the holding of such occupations which are contrary to the reputation of the patent attorney's office;
e)		in the event of a failure by the Board of Directors of the Patent Bar Association for lack of maintenance of liability insurance (Section 21a (2));
f)		if, in the interest of the patent attorney, a procedure for the appointment of a lawyer is initiated and, on the basis of the results of the initial hearing, the disciplinary board, after the appeal by the board of the patent attorney's chamber, continues to be the patent attorney because of serious disadvantages to the interests of its parties or to the standing of the stand, the patent attorney's profession is prohibited until a final cessation of the procedure for the application of the tenants ' order has been terminated.

(2) Ruhen is to be noted in the list of patent attorneys. Section 7 (3) to (5) shall be applied mutasensitily "

14. § 8 (2) reads:

"(2) For the request a fee of 500 € is to be paid to the Patent Office."

Section 9 (4) is deleted.

16. § 12 (3) reads:

" (3) The oral examination shall last at least one hour for each examination advertiser and shall be public. It may be carried out simultaneously with a maximum of three test-valuers. If three examination advertisers are examined at the same time, the total examination time can be reduced to two hours. "

17. § 13 deleted.

18. The § § 16a to 16c are:

" § 16a. (1) nationals of an EEA State or of the Swiss Confederation who are resident in such a State and which are resident in Directive 2005 /36/EC of 7 September 2005 on the recognition of professional qualifications, OJ L 327, 30.12.2005, p. No. L 255/22, which provides for the exercise of the freedom to provide services with regard to the profession of patent attorneys, in so far as they provide services within the meaning of Article 50 of the EC Treaty and Directive 2006 /123/EC of 12 December 2006 on Services in the internal market, OJ C No. L 376/36, provide temporary patentanwalal activities in Austria, such as a patent attorney registered in the list of patent attorneys (service-performing patent attorney). In this connection, they have the rights and obligations arising from § § 16a to 16c.

(2) If a service provider wants to provide patent attorneys in Austria in the exercise of the freedom to provide services, he shall notify the Patent Attorney's Chamber in writing prior to the provision of his services for the first time. . This notification shall be renewed once a year informally if it intends to provide temporary and occasional services during the year in question.

(3) Where services are provided for the first time or if there is a substantial change in relation to the situation certified in documents already submitted, the service-providing patent attorney shall attach the following documents to the notification:

1.		proof of nationality;
2.		proof of professional qualifications;
3.		a certificate attesting that, in one of the States referred to in paragraph 1, he is lawfully established for the exercise of a profession of similar nature to the Austrian patent attorney's profession and that he is entitled to exercise that profession at the time of presentation of the Certificate is not prohibited, either temporarily or temporarily.
In addition, it must take out professional indemnity insurance appropriate to the nature and extent of the risk, or provide for a safety or equivalent provision which is essentially comparable on the basis of its intended purpose, and the first-time period of time. Report an information about the existence of such insurance and its coverage.

(4) If the requirements laid down in paragraphs 1 and 3 are fulfilled, the service-providing patent attorney shall be included immediately and free of charge in a public electronic register to be carried out by the Patent Attorney's Chamber. If the annual renewal of the notification is not carried out, it shall be deleted from the register of reports.

(5) In the absence of a proper reporting, a service-performing patent attorney shall write before a court or administrative authority without having been reported to have been properly reported, subject to the condition that he/she shall take effect only on the condition that he/she has within the reasonable time limit set by the court or the managing authority, a proper notification to the patent attorney's chamber shall be reported.

(6) In the exercise of the freedom to provide services as referred to in paragraph 1, patent attorneys providing service are not to be included in the lists of the Patent Attorneys ' Chamber (Section 1 (3)) or in the public registers of the Patent Office.

§ 16b. (1) In the exercise of a patent attorney's activity, patent attorneys providing service shall have the status of a patent attorney registered in the patent attorneys ' list, in particular his rights and obligations, insofar as these do not the membership of the patent attorney's chamber or the office of the law firm.

(2) In this respect, they shall comply with the rules applicable in Austria for the exercise of the patent attorney's office to the extent that they can be considered by them as service-performing patent attorneys, and only in so far as their compliance is objectively justified in order to ensure the proper performance of the patent attorney's activities and the observance of incompatibilities.

(3) Service-end patent attorneys shall use the professional title which they are entitled to lead in the State of their establishment (the State of origin) in accordance with the law in force there, and shall have the place and the State of the Registral ' s Office and the Professional Association or a similar institution to which they belong. The party they represent shall inform them in respect of the existence of professional indemnity insurance and their scope of coverage.

(4) A domestic law-making body may only entertain service-performing patent attorneys in so far as it is necessary for the provision of temporary services. They shall inform the Patent Bar Association in writing of the reasons for the Chancellors ' institution.

§ 16c. (1) In the exercise of the freedom to provide services, the patent attorney of the patent attorney's chamber is subject to the service of the patent attorney.

(2) In the State of origin of professional organizations with disciplinary authority over the service-performing patent attorney, the Patent Attorney's Chamber has to display a disciplinary procedure with these organizations.

(3) In the country of origin, there are no professional organizations with disciplinary authority over the service-performing patent attorney, which is subject to disciplinary treatment by the disciplinary board and the disciplinary arsenal in the appropriate application of the V. Section. Disciplinary penalties and measures which restrict the exercise of their profession may only be made effective in respect of the national territory. To the place of disciplinary sanctions in accordance with § 48 paragraph 1 lit. c and d is the prohibition to provide services domestiy. "

19. § 16d is deleted.

20. § 22 (2) last sentence reads:

" § 19a der Rechtsanwaltsordnung (RAO), RGBl. No. 96/1868, it is appropriate to apply it. "

21. § 23 (7) reads:

"(7) In any case, official charges shall be borne by the party which is free of charge."

22. § 24 (2) and (3) reads:

" (2) For each calendar year, the flat-rate payment shall be € 7,500. It shall be payable by 30 April of the following year.

(3) The Patent Attorney's Chamber has the amounts paid in support of incapacitated or indebted patent attorates, widows and orphans according to patent attorates or for other humanitarian purposes, as well as for off-and-out and To use training measures of patent attorneys and patent attorneys general. "

23. § 25 reads:

" § 25. The election and amendment of the Registran's seat is free of the patent attorney. However, it shall indicate the change in the seat that has been made within three days of the patent attoring chamber. This has to inform the Patent Office and the Supreme Patent and Trademark Senate immediately and, at the expense of the patent attorney in question, to arrange for the presentation of the seat in the "Patentblatt" as well as on the Internet on the homepage. publish the patent attorney's chamber (http://www.oepak.at) without delay and in general terms. "

Section 25a (3) reads:

" (3) Both the law firm and the branches are issuing offices within the meaning of § 2 Z 5 of the Delivery Act, BGBl. No 200/1982. '

25. § 27 (1) reads:

"(1) Patent attorney general must comply with the requirements laid down in § 2 (1) (a), (b) and (d) and (2) (2) and have permanent residence in an EEA State or in the Swiss Confederation."

26. § 27 (6) and (7) reads:

" (6) The provisions of § 6 (3), § 7 (1) to (3) and (5), § 7a lit. b to d and f and § 7a (2) are to be applied in a reasonable way to patent attorney general.

(7) Patent attorneys who are responsible for the exercise of the patent attorney's profession in accordance with § 7 para. 1 lit. f, a patent attorney may be employed as a patent attorney, provided that:

1.		the conditions laid down in § 2 (1) (lit). (a) and (b) and (2) (2) continue to fulfil their permanent residence in an EEA State or in the Swiss Confederation;
2.		they have not been prohibited from exercising the profession of patent attorney by means of a disciplinary understanding;
3.		the waiver has not been carried out during a pending disciplinary procedure.

If they apply for registration again in the list of patent attorneys, § § 4 to 6 shall apply. However, a further examination is not necessary. "

27. § 29a Z 10 reads:

" 10.		In a patent attorney's company in the form of a limited liability company, other persons other than patent attorney general are not allowed to be appointed as managing director. In a patent attorney's society, prokura and power of action can not be effectively granted. "

28. § 31 receives the sales designation "(1)" . The following paragraph 2 is added to it:

"(2) The Patent Bar Association is" competent authority " within the meaning of Directive 2005 /36/EC of 7 September 2005 on the recognition of professional qualifications, OJ L 327, 30.12.2005, p. L 255/22, and in accordance with Directive 2006/123 of 12 December 2006 on services in the internal market, OJ L 327, 30.12.2006, p. L 376/36. "

Section 34 (1) reads as follows:

" (1) The Annual General Meeting is the assembly of chamber members. It shall be convened by the President, as often as necessary, but at least once a year, by means of written letter or otherwise demonstrably. At the request of four members of the Management Board, including the substitute members or a fifth of the members of the Chamber, the General Meeting must be convened. It shall be held within four weeks of the position of such failure. "

30. § 34 (4) reads:

" (4) The office of the Board of Directors and the Executive Board, as well as the regulations governing the circulation, the annual estimates and the closure of the accounts shall be subject to the approval of the President of the Patent Office as the head of the central industrial property office; authorisation shall be granted if the file to be approved is not unlawful. The approved business regulations and the regulations are to be made known at the expense of the patent attorney's chamber in the patent publication. "

31. § 34 (6) reads:

" (6) In the event of the decision inability of the General Meeting, it shall be made, with reference to the latter's new convocation, on the same agenda for a date later than two weeks later. All chamber members are demonstrably (para. 1). However, it can also be carried out with an at least half-hour waiting period on the same day. This Annual General Meeting is quorum regardless of the number of members present. "

32. § 35 para. 2 lit. a to c is:

" (a)			the management of the list of patent attorneys, the list of patent attorneys ' companies and the list of registered patent attorneys, as well as the decision to register them in the patent attorneys;
b)			the management of the list of patent attorney general (§ 27 para. 2) and the decision on registration in these (§ 27 para. 2 and 4);
c)			the supervision of the performance of the duties of the members of the chamber (§ 31) and the supervision of the disciplinary team of patent attorneys (§ 16c); "

33. In § 35 (2), the point at the end of the lit. n replaced by a stroke point; § 35 para. 2 lit. n is the following lit. o appended:

" o)			the dismissal of an arbitral order and a conciliation order. "

34. § 48 para. 1 lit. b and c is:

" (b)		financial penalties of up to € 45 000;
c)		The exercise of the patent attorney's profession up to the duration of one year; against a patent attorney general, instead of this penalty, the loss of the right to represent his employer pursuant to Article 26 (1) shall be up to the maximum period of one year, as well as to the To recognize the same length of time that he is able to enter the patent attorney's examination; "

35. § 48 (4) and the newly attached para. 5 reads:

" (4) Any disciplinary penalty in force shall be included in the list of patent attorneys, in the list of registered patent attorneys, or in the list of patent attorneys general. Final disciplinary penalties in accordance with paragraph 1 lit. c and d or according to § 16c (3) are to be communicated to the Patent Office and to the Supreme Patent and Trademark Senate. If such disciplinary penalties are imposed on a patent attorney, they shall be published at the expense of the patent attorney in question in the manner specified in Section 6 (2).

(5) Precepts in accordance with paragraph 1 lit. a and b are after five years and those according to paragraph 1 lit. c and § 16c para. 3 after ten years. The patent attorney or patent attorney general concerned shall be informed accordingly. "

36. § 51 para. 1 lit. a is:

" (a)			the chairman of the disciplinary board and his/her deputies from the circle of judges of the salary group R 2 or of a higher salary group; "

37. § 51 para. 1 lit. d is:

" (d)			two members of the Disciplinary Board and the Disciplinary Board, as well as three alternate members for the Disciplinary Arsenal and the Disciplinary Board from among the patent attorneys. "

38. § 60 (1) reads:

" (1) The Disciplinary Board is entitled in urgent cases to take measures of caution, which extend to the cessation of the exercise of the Patent Attorney's Office or the deprivation of the right of the patent attorney general to represent pursuant to Section 26 (1) may be decided as long as

a)		is pending legal proceedings against a patent attorney or a patent attorney or is led by the Public Prosecutor's Office by the security authorities; or
b)		the disciplinary penalty imposed on the exclusion from the exercise of the patent attorney's profession or from the practice as a patent attorney's candidate has not yet been legally binding; or
c)		an application for the opening of insolvency proceedings against a patent attorney. "

39. § 60 (3) reads:

" (3) The time during which the exercise of the patent attorney's profession or the right of the patent attorney general was withdrawn pursuant to para. 1 is to the disciplinary penalty of the temporary cessation of the exercise of the patent attorney's profession, the withdrawal of the right of the patent attorney general to represent his or her employer or the grant of the authorisation for the patent attorney's examination. "

40. § 76 (1) and (2) reads as follows:

"(1) Those who, subject to the second paragraph of the professional title" Patent Attorney ", are served without being registered in the list of patent attorneys, shall be subject to an administrative surrender and shall be punished with a fine of up to € 4 360.

(2) Service-end patent attorneys who are entitled to lead the professional title of "patent attorney" on the basis of foreign regulations may only use this professional title in Austria with the additional information contained in Section 16b (3), first sentence, of the German patent application. Indicate. "

41. § 80 (4), the following paragraph 5 is added:

" (5) § 1 (1) and (3), § 1a (1), (2) and (5) to (7), § 1b (1), § 2, 3, 4 (2), § 6 (2), § 7 (1) and (4), § 7a, 8 (2), § 12 (3), § 16a, 16b, 16c, 22 (2) last sentence, § 23 para. 7, § 24 para. 2 and 3, § § 25, 25a para. 3, § 27 para. 1, 6 and 7, § 29a Z 10, § 31, § 34 (1), (4) and (6), § 35 (2) (lit). a to c, n and o, § 48 para. 1 lit. b and c, para. 4 and 5, § 51 para. 1 lit. a and d, § 60 (1) and (3) and § 76 (1) and (2) in the version of the Federal Law BGBl (Federal Law Gazette). I n ° 15/2008 enter into force at the beginning of the day following the presentation of the aforementioned Federal Law. At the same time, § § 1c, 9 (4), § § 13 and 16d are repeal in the version currently in force. "

Fischer

Gusenbauer