Patents and intellectual property

Renewing trade mark protection

When the protection of your trade mark expires, you can renew the protection.

Register brand

Marks that serve to distinguish the goods and services of one company from those of other companies can be protected as trademarks at the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA).

Applying for a design

Designs that are new and have individual character can be protect-ed as a registered design at the German Patent and Trade Mark Office [Deutsches Patent- und Markenamt, (DPMA)].

Apply for patent

Technical inventions that are new, inventive and industrially applicable can be protected as patents at the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA).

Inspect the DPMA register

If you need information on the current legal and procedural status of patents, utility models or trade marks, you can carry out online searches in the "DPMAregister" service.

How to file an appeal against decisions of the German Patent and Trade Mark Office [Deutsches Patent- und Markenamt, DPMA]

You may file an appeal against decisions of the German Patent and Trade Mark Office in intellectual property proceedings.

Intellectual property rights

This section provides information on your rights and obligations with regard to setting up, running and closing a business, with particular regard to registering patents, utility models, marks and designs.

Submit search request for preliminary assessment of protectability of a patent application

If you want a rough estimate of whether your invention filed as a patent is new and inventive before you file for examination, you can file a request for search.

Examination for patentability

Patents allow you to protect your technical inventions from unwanted imitation. To assess the patentability of your invention, the process from application to examination request and possible grant of a patent is described here.

Apply for plant variety protection

You apply for plant variety protection for a newly discovered or bred plant variety at the Federal Plant Variety Office (BSA).