German trademark judicial review system

After the end of World War II, the German Constitution was amended, clearly stipulating that the decisions of government departments should be subject to judicial supervision and public review, and the parties affected by administrative decisions have the right to judicial relief. It turns out that the party who refuses to accept the decision made by the German Patent and Trademark Office to reject the application for trademark registration can only apply to the Appeal Committee within the German Patent and Trademark Office for review, which will hear the case and make a final decision. In order to make the party who refuses to accept the administrative decision of the German Patent and Trademark Office truly enjoy the judicial relief right stipulated by the German Constitution, Germany established the German Federal Patent Court in Munich on 1962, which is specialized in the jurisdiction of intellectual property cases that refuse to accept the administrative decision of the German Patent and Trademark Office (civil cases of patent and trademark infringement are still tried by local courts with jurisdiction in Germany). There are 29 trial chambers (or "committees") in the German Federal Patent Court, among which 9 trial chambers are responsible for hearing trademark cases that are not satisfied with the German Patent and Trademark Office's rejection of trademark registration applications and objections. Due to the technical and procedural nature of intellectual property cases, in the German court system, only the federal patent court has the phenomenon that technical experts in a certain technical field serve as judges. The judges with technical background are all recruited from the senior examiners of the German Patent and Trademark Office, and the judges with legal background are mostly from the German Patent and Trademark Office. Conversely, judges of the German Federal Patent Court can also serve as senior examiners in the German Patent and Trademark Office. By the end of 2003, the Federal Patent Court had 60 technical judges and 64 law judges. These two types of judges have the same status and exercise their powers equally in hearing cases. The German Federal Patent Court and the German Patent and Trademark Office work in the same office building, and the two institutions are closely related in personnel source and geographical location. Patent judges and senior examiners can exchange views and discuss problems with each other, but they all make judicial or administrative decisions independently without any interference. The working experience of the patent judge in the German Patent and Trademark Office will not affect the fairness of his trial. Due to the frequent two-way communication between the personnel of the two institutions, the knowledge and grasp of trademark review standards by patent judges and senior examiners are increasingly converging, which further enhances the unity of law enforcement standards in trademark administrative law enforcement and judicial review practice. The parties will also roughly infer the handling results of disputed trademark cases from similar administrative decisions and judicial precedents, and then decide what relief measures to take and whether to exhaust all relief channels. The German Federal Patent Court follows the principle of civil procedure when trying cases that are not satisfied with the decision of the German Patent and Trademark Office. In the trial of an appeal case, the judge examines the determination of facts and the application of the law. Trademark cases generally take about 13 months to be concluded. Under normal circumstances, the German Patent and Trademark Office does not participate in the litigation against its decision. However, if public interests or important legal issues are involved, the German Federal Patent Court will invite the director of the German Patent and Trademark Office to participate, but this situation is rare. The director of the German Patent and Trademark Office may designate a special person or submit a written statement or participate in the trial. Usually, the head of the Quality Supervision Section of the Trademark Office of the Patent and Trademark Office decides whether to participate in the trial. If it is decided to appear in court, the senior examiner of the Institute of Quality Supervision or the senior examiner of the Trademark Office shall participate in the trial as a third person, and explain the reasons why the German Patent and Trademark Office made the decision ex officio. The German Federal Patent Court usually decides directly whether to grant trademark registration. Only when there are obvious mistakes in the decision made by the German Patent and Trademark Office will it be sent back for retrial to attract its attention and avoid similar situations from happening again in the future. There are six types of the highest judicial organs in Germany, namely, the Federal Supreme Court and the Supreme Administrative Court, in which the Federal Supreme Court is in charge of civil and criminal cases. The Federal Supreme Court is the final court of the judgment of the Federal Patent Court, and the Supreme Administrative Court is not the final court of the above-mentioned cases (Germany's review of trademark administrative acts has not been included in the jurisdiction of the administrative court and has not been tried as an administrative case). The Federal Supreme Court is also the final court of German trademark infringement cases. The right of final adjudication of all trademark cases belongs to the German Federal Supreme Court, which ensures the unification of law enforcement standards from the system. Whether the parties can appeal to the Federal Supreme Court, the Federal Patent Court has the right to examine and decide. If the case is considered to involve major legal issues, the parties may be allowed to appeal to the Federal Supreme Court. Few cases can be appealed to the Federal Supreme Court. In most cases, the judgment made by the Federal Patent Court is final. According to the practice of German trademark administrative confirmation and judicial review introduced by Ms. Na Wei, a senior judge appointed by the President of the German Federal Patent Court, most German trademark confirmation cases usually only need administrative first instance and judicial first instance. Reduce procedures, shorten the trial period, determine the right status of disputed trademarks as soon as possible, safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the parties, and handle the relationship between efficiency and justice.