A patent is an examined industrial property right for a technical invention with a maximum protection period of 20 years, whereby longer protection periods may apply in individual cases for pharmaceutical products and plant protection products subject to authorization. Patents are granted for technical inventions that are new, industrially applicable and based on an inventive step. Technical inventions include, among other things, processes, devices, electronic circuits and chemical substances. Computer programs that contain a technical solution are also patentable.

However, patent protection is not available for discoveries, mathematical methods, instructions to the human mind (e.g. rules of a game or instructions for use), computer programs as such, i.e. if they do not have a technical component or do not contain a solution to a technical problem, aesthetic creations and medical treatment methods.

A patent application with effect in Germany can be filed either with the German Patent and Trade Mark Office as a national German patent application or with the European Patent Office under the European Patent Convention (EPC) as a European patent application or as an international PCT patent application. In addition, there is an EU patent with unitary effect, which provides protection in some member states of the European Union.

Before a patent is granted, the patent application is examined by the relevant patent office for the criteria mentioned at the beginning: i.e. novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability. A patent is only granted after successful examination proceedings.

A patent granted by the German Patent and Trade Mark Office provides protection exclusively in Germany.

A European patent granted by the European Patent Office does not automatically provide protection in all states that are party to the EPC. During the application proceedings, the states for which patent protection is sought must first be designated. After the European patent has been granted, it must then be validated in these designated states. The European patent application procedure thus only covers the application and examination proceedings for the designated states. After the European patent has been granted, it separates into a bundle of national patents.

Yet another way of applying for a patent is to file an international patent application, which is filed centrally and undergoes an international search, which may be followed by an international preliminary examination. After the international phase has ended, the international patent application is transformed into national/regional patent applications.

One particular legal issue that we have dealt with in our law firm is patent protection in extraterritorial areas.