Introduction
When a patent attorney?
Services of a Patent Attorney
Costs
Information on ...
Designs
Infringements
Inventions of employees
Licenses
Patents
Trademarks
Utility models
Important notice
Personal
Contact
Imprint
The application for a patent, a trademark or other intellectual propriety rights at the German Patent- and Trademark Office (DPMA), the European Patent Office (EPA) or the Office for the Harmonisation of the Internal Market (OHIM) can in principal be made by the applicant himself.
Exception: applicants with place of residence and/or business abroad with respect to the individual office, e.g. non-Germans at the German Patent- and Trademark Office.
However, there are several good reasons to seek the assistance of a patent attorney from the first day:
- The deposition of an application creates facts that
fix the frame for the whole subsequent procedure. Errors made here
cannot be corrected later on.
- The discussion with the Patent- and Trademark Office
about patentability of an invention or the registration of a trademark
demands experience for what is possible and how the case can be built
up.
- The procedure at the Patent- and Trademark Offices is
complicated and demands up-to-date knowledge of case law. Formal
mistakes can easily result in loss of the whole right.
- A patent, trademark or other right can be worthless
if the formulation (patent claims, sign etc.) is wrong.
- A preliminary analysis can avoid hopeless
applications and thus save money.
- The planning of an international patent an trademark
strategy demands knowledge of what is possible and how to achieve it.
- And, and, and ....
Services of a Patent Attorney
- Counsel in questions of intellectual propriety
- Application of an invention as patent or utility model
- Application of a design as design patent
- Application of a sign as trademark
- Translation of foreign applications into German for filing them at the EPO or the DPMA
- Representation at the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA)
- Representation at the European Patent Office (EPO)
- Representation at the "European Trademark and Design Office" (OHIM)
- Assistance at civil courts
- Opposition, Nullity Actions against patents
- Opposition, Nullity Actions against trademarks
- Opposition, Nullity Actions against utility models and design patents
- Appeals against decisions of the office
- Interim Injunctions and Actions against infringements
Costs
Generally, patent attorney fees are made up of a fixed base fee and a variable fee that depends on the amount of work.
Some comparative figures about costs are given in: Dieter Rebel, "Gewerbliche Schutzrechte - Ein Praxishandbuch", 3. Auflage, Carl Heymanns Verlag (2001)
Please ask in advance for an estimation of the costs to be expected.
Last update: 23.11.2011