Willkommen!
German Trademark Registration
German Design Patent Registration
Representation before the DPMA
We've created a unique and more personal approach to handling your IP portfolio.
A short introduction: The German Trademark is a website operated by Mr. Ákos Süle, LL.M. (Berlin), an IP lawyer and his #1 award winning team. You will find all credits under the link “imprint” of this page. We are certainly licensed to duly represent you before the DPMA and we operate locally.
We offer intellectual property (IP) legal services. Especially, this site is dedicated to German trademarks and design patent registrations. Moreover, we offer an uncomplicated, personal, non-technical registration process.
Our biggest advantages are the quick turn-around time, high success rate. We also value frankness with clients, personal communication, clear pricing and low fees. At least this is what sets us apart on the German market. We have a clear pricing model, we always try to anticipate costs exactly. The prices on this site are excl. VAT and we have no hidden fees (disbursements, etc.). We hope that our clients will return to us with newer and newer branding ideas.
The process in seven steps
This is the typical timeline of a trademark registration in Germany, which is quite unusual, since you get the Trademark Certificate before the end of the opposition period.
- First, receipt of your mark / brand or logo followed by ...Step 1
- Checking and then finalizing the list of goods ans services of the trademarkStep 2
- Following that, payment of the trademark application fee, including official feesStep 3
- Soon after, an identity trademark search in the databases of the DPMA, EUIPO and of the WIPOStep 4
- Immediately after that: Trademark application at the DPMA onlineStep 5
- In case of a smooth application, registration of the trademark within two weeks, receipt of the Certificate of Registration from the DPMAStep 6
- Finally, if no opposition is received by the DPMA, then confirmation of the registrationStep 7
So why is this so unusual? Well, first of all, you can get a German trademark certificate as soon as three weeks. And that’s just great. Actually, you can receive the certificate even sooner, if you apply for expedited / accelerated / urgent procedure. In latter case, if everything runs smoothly, the DPMA registers the mark within a week. Yes, that’s right
in urgent procedures the DPMA registers your German trademark within a week!
However, since the urgent procedure comes with an extra official fee of EUR 200, most clients do not choose that. But it is still nice to have this option. Very nice actually.
As mentioned before, the normal application will be also registered in a few weeks, so the difference is not all that big. Ultimately, most countries register a trademark within six months.
So what is the trade off for this speed? There is surely one and you can see it on the above list with seven steps: The opposition period is three month also in Germany, which means that you will get your trademark certificate first, before the end of the oppositions period. However, if noone files an opposition against your mark, the DPMA will notify your (your German trademark representative / German trademark agent). The notification is merely a simple letter confirming the final protection of your trademark. A simple, but very important letter. The alternative is that you have to fight an opposition procedure. That would take some time and legal fees, we would certainly advise you if it is worth the investment.
But let us put this option aside for a while. If we work together, you will be in a position to calculate risks.
How to calculate risks...
You can rely on your market knowledge and market search. This is very important. A trademark search is of course also important, but you basically can expect oppositions from your competitors. If you are not familiar with the German market, we can help you out and run some specific internet searches to learn about your competitors. As a result, at the day of application, you will know how risky a German trademark application is. Ultimately it is your decision to take business risks. It is our task to clear you up about them. Obviously, if a mark is risky, you can wait until the end of the opposition period before investing in it heavily. In Germany, the chance that an opposition is filed, is much much higher than that of a later cancellation action. This has party legal grounds, as you have more basis in an opposition procedure. You can learn more about the details of this in our News section.
Other EU countries
Beside the fees for German trademark registration and German design patent registration, you could also find it useful to check the following: Our French and UK trademark and French & UK design patent registration services. Further our EU trademark registration and EU design patent registration services.