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the date of priority, and is concerned with either an obvious misuse to the disadvantage ofthe applicant, or the displaying of the design by the applicant (or his rightful successors) atan official or officially recognised trade fair.Article 3 prohibits the possibility of dual protection. As a result of the principle of priority,older rights enjoy advantages in their protection over newer rights that are exactly the sameas, or confusingly similar to their older counterparts. The Patent Office does not undertake atest of novelty during the registration process. Theoretically therefore, a new patent cannotimpute protection until the first design has been declared void.The principle of creator is valid in the protection of registered designs. Only the creators of adesign, and their rightful successors, have a claim to the protection of the design. Thus,design protection is a transferable right under Austrian law. Note, however, that a designcreated by an employee for his employer during the term of employment belongs not to theemployee but the employer. The exclusive intellectual property rights granted to thepossessor of a design are codified in article 4.Design protection is achieved by application. According to articles 11 and 12, a writtenapplication that includes a reproduction or a copy of the design takes place either at thePatent Office or at a Commercial Chamber. Each registration process checks that a design, asdefined by the Registered Design Act, is present.What is not checked, however, is the novelty of the design, whether there has been aninfringement of the dual protection prohibition and whether the applicant has, in fact, a claimto the protection of the design. Once the copyright in the design has been awarded, thedesign is entered into the Design Register and the holder is awarded a certificate. Copyrightin the design begins with the publication of the design and ends 5 years to the end of themonth in which registration took place. Provided the renewal fees are paid on time, copyrightprotection can be twice renewed for further 5-year periods.Copyright of a design ends by expiry of the protection, or by a Patent Office revocation of thedesign on the grounds that it is either obviously not new, or that it falls foul of the dualprotection prohibition. It is also possible for an application of revocation to be made by anindividual who believes a design to be contrary to the Registered Design Act. Copyright of adesign may also be deprived of an individual when another alleges his entitlement to theprotection.VPatent LawProducts that demonstrate high levels of inventive thought come within the jurisdiction of thePatent Act, and are protected by letters of patent.Inventions with significant ethical relevance for society at large, such as unethical inventionsand inventions within the biological and medical realms are not patentable. However, Austriahas implemented the directive 98/44/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6thJuly 1998 on the Protection of Biotechnological Inventions.As a result of the implementation, inventions involving biological material are capable ofbeing patented, however with the exception that the human body in all its phases offormation and development is not patentable.Inventions relating to plants and materials are only patentable provided they are notrestricted to a particular plant or animal variety. This scope of protection of a patent onbiological material also extends to the next generation derived from the protected materialeither by way of propagation or by way of multiplication.Only the inventor and his rightful successors can claim for the issuing of a patent. A claim isestablished through the registration of a patent. Until otherwise proved, the first applicant willbe deemed to be the inventor. A test as to whether or not the applicant is in fact entitled topatent the invention is not undertaken.- 37 -