Fee reductions for patent applications in Austria - Patent Check program

If you file an invention patent application in Austria and meet the following conditions, you can apply for relevant patent application subsidies.

If the applicant is an Austrian technology start-up, SME or an individual who can prove a concrete intention to commercialize the project (e.g. a company under creation, supported by a start-up center or similar institution, AplusB Center). The funding takes the form of a grant of up to 10,000 euros, which is 80% of the total costs that may be incurred for the patent application (approximately 12,500 euros). The Patent Check program does not support utility model, trademark or design patent applications .

• Definition of SMEs: SMEs have fewer than 250 employees, an annual turnover of no more than EUR 50 million, or an annual balance sheet total of no more than EUR 43 million. The Patent Check program only supports invention patents.

The Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) provides founders with funding in the form of a patent check. The patent check provides an easy entry point into the protection of your invention and covers 80% of the costs associated with patent applications. The maximum funding is EUR 10,000.

• Stage 1: The prerequisite for the request for fee reduction is that the Austrian Patent Office conducts a patent search. After the ATPO completes the patent search (fee: EUR 1,710), the FFG will provide a subsidy of EUR 1,300.
• Phase 2: ATPO experts will then interview the company and introduce the research results. At this point, it is clear whether to apply for a patent. If there is no need to continue applying for a patent, the funding will be terminated. Nevertheless, the applicant can still try to find another protection strategy with the experts, for which the applicant will receive a subsidy of approximately 1,300 euros.