Trade marks and patents enjoy strong protection in Germany. If you plan to establish a company in Germany, you should ensure that your company and/or your products do not infringe on older intellectual property rights that have already been established on the German market. Conversely, you should remember to protect your company’s intellectual property by means of registration.

Patents

Patents are granted for technical inventions which are new, involve an inventive step, and are industrially applicable. The duration of a patent is 20 years, beginning on the day following the patent application for the invention.

Under German patent law, patents are granted by ruling of the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (Deutsches Patent und Markenamt, DPMA). In order to apply for registration, the applicant must file an application giving certain information and pay a fee. For details please refer to the DPMA’s Information for Patent Applicants fact sheet.

DPMA’s Information for Patent Applicants fact sheet

• www.patent-und-markenamt.de

Foreigners may register patents on exactly the same terms as German nationals. However, applicants having neither a domicile nor an establishment in Germany must appoint a patent attorney in Germany as representative for filing the patent application.

European Patents are granted under the European Patent Convention (EPC). The European and the national patent-granting procedure exist in parallel, when seeking patent protection in one or more EPC contracting states, the applicant has a choice between following the national procedure in each individual state or taking the European route, which confers protection in the contracting states that you designate as part of a single procedure. European Patents, once granted, become a bundle of nationally enforceable patents in the designated states. For a step-by-step guide on the granting procedure for European patents, please refer to the website of the European Patent Organization.

European Patent Organization

• www.epo.org

Trade Marks

A trade mark is a name, a company name, a term, a logo, or a combination of these, which identifies a company, its goods, or its services. Marks of this kind that are associated with a specific manufacturer/supplier may take the form of symbols, words, illustrations, audio signatures, color designs, packaging, etc.

Additionally, a company or a product name that has acquired a secondary meaning as a trademark due to its independent value can also be eligible for trade mark protection.

A mark can be protected as a trade mark by recording it in the register kept at the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (Deutsches Patent und Markenamt, DPMA). In order to apply for registration, the applicant must file an application providing certain details. For more information, please refer to DPMA’s Information for Trade Mark Applicants fact sheet.

DPMA’s Information for Trade Mark Applicants fact sheet

• www.patent-und-markenamt.de

At present, the fee for the application for registration of a trade mark and the entry in the trade mark register amounts to EUR 300.

Foreigners may register trade marks on exactly the same terms as German nationals. Applicants (also German nationals) having neither a domicile nor a seat or an establishment in Germany must appoint an attorney-at-law or a patent attorney in Germany as their representative.

Once trade mark protection has been obtained, the owner of a trademark has an exclusive right to use this specific trademark. If the trade mark has been registered, the owner can indicate this by placing ® (registered trademark) after the trade mark. Protection is valid for a period of 10 years. It can then be extended for another 10 years.

Licenses

The right to a patent or a trade mark may be subject to either an exclusive or a general license. By granting a third party a license, the owner entitles a third party to use or exploit the right in question without ceding ownership.

An exclusive license entitles only the licensee to exploit the right, usually within a certain territory. General licensing or non-exclusive licensing enables various licensees to use a right both in the same territory and at the same time.