As the commercial world is growing, the protection of intellectual property is becoming increasingly crucial to safeguarding the continued success and market position of many corporations operating in the global economy.

Intellectual Property is protected by numerous laws in Germany, including copyright, patents, and trademarks that enable the particular owner to earn recognition, financial benefit, or protection for what they invent or create. By striking the precise balance between the benefits and interests of the wider public interest and the innovators, the German IP law aims to foster a milieu in which innovation and creativity can flourish. Germany has an ample legislation concerning the protection of intellectual property. In Germany, rights and protections for owners of intellectual property are ultimately based on the federal patent, copyright and trademark laws and also on the laws against unfair competition.

The German regulations for Intellectual Property Law refer to patent, trademark, utility model, design and copyright protection. Most of the laws have been outlined before Germany became a European Union member state, however, the laws were subsequently amended and modified to be compatible to EU regulations concerning the protection of IP – Intellectual Property. In Germany, some of the main laws governs the grounds of Intellectual Property, including:

• The Patent Act (PatG),
• The Copyright Act (UrhG),
• The Trademark Act (MarkenG),
• The Designs Act (GeschMG),
• The Utility Model Act (GebrMG),
• The Act Against Unfair Competition (UWG).

The particularity of the German legislation is that the Civil Code also holds provisions about IP protection. With the Community Trademarks, German inventors or creators also have the option to register for IP protection.

In general, a Patent is a form of right granted by the German government to an inventor, granting the owner the right to exclude others from offering to sell, making, selling, using, and importing an invention for a limited time period, in altercation for the public disclosure of the particular invention. A Copyright grants the creator of an original creation or work complete rights to it, usually for a limited period of time. A Trademark is an identifiable sign, expression or design, which differentiates products or services of a particular trader from the similar products or services of other traders.

From the company litigation to the groundbreaking, global operations, the intellectual property and IT lawyers of our firm deliver decades of experience blended with a wide scope of technical expertise to our clients. We offer a complete range of legal services for the acquisition, defending, commercialization, obtaining, and enforcement of intellectual property and IT assets in the areas of Patent, Copyright, Trademarks, Industrial Designs and more.