Adopt a deferred review system. From the date of filing the patent application. Within 7 years, the Patent Office will conduct novelty retrieval and substantive examination only after the applicant or the third party makes a request. However, retrieval is not a prerequisite for substantive examination, and substantive examination can be conducted directly without making a retrieval request. If no substantive examination request is made within 7 years, the patent application shall be deemed to be automatically withdrawn.
Patent approval is divided into two steps. After the substantive examination is passed, the patent office "provisionally approves" the patent and publishes it; Within 3 months after the release, any third party has the right to raise objections. If there is no objection or no objection is established, the patent will be "formally approved".
German patent law also gives patent protection to new plant varieties and cultivation methods.
The utility model implements the registration system rather than the examination system. As long as its application documents are complete and within the protection scope of the utility model law, it can be protected by the utility model.
What is not protected by the utility model in Germany are: manufacturing methods, immovable objects (buildings), charts (patterns and pictures), fluids, powders, animal and plant varieties, jewelry, food, medicines, circuits, complete process devices and other objects without fixed forms. The protection of the utility model can be applied separately or together with the patent. The validity period of the utility model is 3 years, which can be extended once, and the validity period is 3 years.