Patents and Utility Models

Protect Innovations - Gain a Lead in Competition

Patents and utility models (also called "petty" patents) are granted to protect those technical inventions which are
not yet known, are suitable for an industrial application, and which are distinguished from the known state-of-the-art
by a sufficient "inventive step". This means that these new ideas or products could not have been found easily or by
mere routine experiments. The notion of "technical" is interpreted in a broad sense. It is therefore possible to obtain
patents on new recipes for food preparation, or on computer software if it has a special technical effect.

In Germany and Europe, it is essential that an application for a patent is filed with the Patent Office before the inventor
discloses the invention to the public.

Patents are granted for 20 years. Utility models, by contrast, enjoy a maximum protection of 10 years, half as long
as that of patents, and are subject to specific provisions. One is that an inventor who publishes his invention enjoys
a grace period of six months for filing the application for a utility model.

Patents are granted by the Patent Office only after a thorough examination for patentability. Utility models are
registered without such an examination, with the advantage of earlier registration and lower costs, but with the
disadvantage of an increased risk of non-validity.

Approximately 62'000 patent applications and 17'000 utility model applications were filed with the German Patent
and Trademark Office in Munich in 2008. At the European Patent Office in Munich 226'000 European and international
patent applications were filed in 2008, of which Germany's 19% share is the biggest in Europe.

The economic relevance of technical intellectual property rights is evident and ever increasing. They endow the
owner with the right to keep any third party from using the owner's invention for commercial purposes. Competitors
are allowed to make use of such rights only with permission of the owner, such as under a license agreement.
With this patent monopoly, which is granted for a period of 20 years, the state rewards the inventor for disclosing
his innovation to the general public rather than keeping it secret, as was common in the medieval guilds or in
ancient China (for example, the production of porcelain and silk). The disclosure enables others to improve their
knowledge much more quickly and encourages them to conceive their own innovations. One exception is that a
patent monopoly on surgical or therapeutic methods of treatment is precluded so that every physician will be in
a position to apply new methods without interference. Under certain circumstances, the Patent Office may require a
patentee to grant a compulsory license for his patent when the new development is deemed important for public health.

The degree of protection under a patent depends on the scope of the "patent claims". The patent attorney has been
trained in the art of wording such claims to provide maximum protection. Drafting patent claims requires engineering
proficiency, thorough knowledge of the judicial practice, and a wealth of experience combined with an understanding
of potential commercial application. Many patents are useless for their owners because the patent claims were drafted
in an unprofessional manner.

Historically, patentlike privilegies were already given in the ancient greek community Sibaris for good cooking recipes.
Patents were issued as early as 1474 in the republic of Venice when Galileo Galilei applied for such a right and the
Doges granted him a limited privilege to manufacture and distribute a new telescope. In Germany, the sovereigns first
issued such privileges toward the end of the Middle Ages. Thomas Jefferson insisted that the right of an inventor to a
limited monopoly in exchange for public disclosure be written into the United States Constitution. The current German
patent law was enacted at the end of the 19th century.

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