German Patent Office To Implement Electronic Filing System

by Ulrika Lomas, for LawAndTax-News.com, Brussels

13 September 2006

It emerged on Monday that the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA) has engaged IBM business consultants in a 4-year agreement to implement an electronic system to improve efficiency and expand customer service.

This IT solution will enable the DPMA to complete the entire registration process for property rights, including patents and utility models, electronically.

The DPMA's main task is to grant industrial property rights (patents, utility models, trade marks and design patents) for technical and commercial innovations and to register, administer and publish these. In 2005 alone, DPMA staff processed more than 60,000 patents, nearly 71,000 trade marks and more than 48,000 design patent applications.

In future, the entire process will be completed electronically, from application to publication.

"Launching an end-to-end electronic file system is most important for us because the new system will enable us to provide our services more efficiently and in a more customer-friendly manner," explained Dr Jürgen Schade, President of the German Patent and Trade Mark Office.

He continued:

"It will simplify and speed up significantly the processing of industrial property rights. In the final analysis we will be helping companies to better protect their innovations and trade marks in the German market."

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