Patents, Trademarks and Designs

Patents offer protection for world-first technical inventions and procedures that are based on an inventive step and have industrial applications. In order to obtain property rights, the inventor must submit a request for examination within seven years of filing for a patent.

A patent affords its holder a time-limited and geographically restricted monopoly for the exclusive commercial exploitation of their invention. The protection lasts for up to 20 years from the filing date. The geographic area of protection includes all countries in which the patent is issued. It is possible to file for a national patent in different countries, such as Germany or the USA, or to file a European or international patent application.

Trademarks offer guidance to help consumers navigate wide-ranging offerings. They serve to identify the products and services of a given company. Trademarks can be registered for specific words, letters, numbers or images (e.g. logos). However, descriptive and non-distinctive terms and characters are not eligible for trademark protection. It is recommended that you conduct research before applying to register a trademark with the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (Deutsches Patent- und Markenamt – DPMA). The DPMA does not examine whether similar or identical trademarks already exist.

A product’s external configuration, shape and colour have a significant influence on consumers’ purchase decisions. A registered design grants the holder the exclusive right to use the protected design. The design must be novel at the time of its registration and must demonstrate unique character, which means that its overall appearance must be distinct from existing designs. As the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA) does not review the novelty or uniqueness of designs in the registration process, you should examine whether your design meets the protection requirements before applying.