The longest protection period of a German patent is 20 years, counting from the date of filing. From the third year of the application date, the annual fee will be paid every year. The German Patent and Trademark Office will search the existing technology and examine the substantive licensing conditions (novelty, creativity, clarity, etc. ). Applications that do not meet the authorization conditions will be rejected.
2. Patent for utility model:
The longest protection period of German utility model is ten years, counting from the date of application. The maintenance fee needs to be paid in three times to maintain the effectiveness of the utility model. They are 4-6 years, 7-8 years and 9- 10 years respectively, counting from the date of application. Under normal circumstances, the German Patent and Trademark Office will not search the existing technology unless there is a corresponding explicit request and an official fee is paid. The registration procedure of German utility model can be roughly divided into submission stage, examination stage and registration stage. The time required for the whole process is generally about 4 months, 2 months faster, and generally not more than 8 months.
3. Design patents
25 years from the date of application. From the sixth year from the date of application, maintenance fees shall be paid every five years to maintain the effectiveness of the design. The German Patent and Trademark Office will not search the existing design, nor will it review the substantive licensing conditions (novelty and uniqueness). The registration procedure of German design can be roughly divided into submission stage, examination stage and registration stage. The approval time for German design is generally three to four months. German design will be published about one month after registration.