Leaders League Austria 2026: New IP and Data Protection Rankings Published
Six practice areas, five tiers – and a four-month research cycle
Leaders League published its new rankings for the Austrian market on 1 July 2026. The cycle covers six practice areas with a clear focus on intellectual property and data law: Data Protection, TMT, Patent Litigation, Patent Prosecution, Trademark Litigation and Trademark Prosecution.
Firms are placed in up to five tiers: Leading, Excellent, Highly recommended, Recommended and – in Data Protection and Patent Litigation only – Valuable practice. Within each tier firms are listed alphabetically, so there is no ranking order inside a group. New entrants are flagged as “NEW”.
The top tier
Ranked Leading in both Data Protection and TMT are Dorda and Wolf Theiss. In Patent Litigation, Gassauer-Fleissner and GEISTWERT lead the field; in Patent Prosecution, SONN is the only firm in the top tier. Trademark Litigation is led by Gassauer-Fleissner and Schoenherr, Trademark Prosecution by Schoenherr and SONN.
How Leaders League researches
Each cycle runs for four months – three months of data collection, one month of analysis. The research team draws on four sources: the firm’s submission form (top ten matters of the past twelve months, team composition, client base, personnel changes, client referee list), supplemented by confidential interviews; client feedback; peer feedback; and qualified third-party review, for example from investment banks.
One practical detail matters: Leaders League contacts nominated referees in its own name, not on behalf of the firm. The submission alone therefore does not determine the outcome – it opens the door, while client and peer feedback carry real weight.
What firms should do now
Firms not listed in 2026, or ranked lower than expected, should start preparing for the next cycle early: build a solid record of matter descriptions, select and brief client referees in good time – and keep the deadline in view. Leaders League is only one of many directories, each with its own submission calendar.
