German Patent and Trade Mark Office ("DPMA")

The German Patent and Trade Mark Office, or Deutsches Patent- und Markenamt, is the federal authority responsible for granting and administering patents, utility models, trade marks and designs in Germany. Based in Munich, close to the European Patent Office, it is the leading national office in Europe by volume of patent applications, and it holds a central position for foreign rightholders because of the size of the German market and the appeal of its courts in infringement matters.

Grant and opposition procedure

A German patent application undergoes substantive examination at the applicant’s request, which must be filed within seven years of filing. After publication of the grant, any person may file an opposition before the Office within nine months. Beyond that period, the validity of the patent can be challenged only by a nullity action before the Federal Patent Court, whose decisions are subject to review by the Federal Court of Justice. This separation between validity proceedings and infringement proceedings, which are heard by the regional courts, is the hallmark of the German system.

Utility models and other rights

Utility models are registered without substantive examination, for a maximum term of ten years, and they protect product inventions to the exclusion of processes. A utility model may be branched off from a pending German or European patent application by a declaration of branching off, which gives it the filing date of that application and makes it a useful tool for rapidly obtaining an enforceable right while the patent is under examination. Trade marks are examined on absolute grounds, opposition on relative grounds being open to holders of earlier rights after publication of the registration. Designs are registered without examination of novelty.

Practical relevance for a French rightholder

A French rightholder most often obtains protection in Germany through the validation of a European patent, for which no translation is any longer required, or through the effect of the unitary patent, which covers Germany. A direct filing with the German Office nonetheless remains useful for targeted protection, for a utility model or for a strategy of double protection. The Office keeps the register in which transfers and licences of German patents and of the German parts of European patents must be recorded, and it provides a public database that is useful for prior art searches in German.

Key points

The German Office grants patents after substantive examination, which must be requested within seven years of filing, and it hears oppositions filed within nine months of grant. Validity is then challenged before the Federal Patent Court, separate from the infringement courts. For a French rightholder, validation of a European patent or the unitary patent remain the main routes, with a utility model branched off from a pending application offering a rapid right. The opposition period should be monitored and transfers and licences recorded in the German register.

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This glossary entry is general in scope and does not constitute legal advice.

Dhenne Avocats litigates patent disputes before the Paris Judicial Court, the Paris Court of Appeal and the Unified Patent Court. When the question arises in a real case, the right moment is almost always before proceedings are issued.

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