Integrity and Corruption Prevention

The German Patent and Trade Mark Office is performing its statutory duties in an impartial and subject-oriented manner. In this context, our actions vis-à-vis our customers, staff and the public are characterised by lawfulness, integrity and transparency.

Corruption endangers the social system, causes economic damage and is incompatible with the ethics of our office. For this reason, the German Patent and Trade Mark Office has a comprehensive set of rules concerning integrity and corruption prevention (for example, regarding acceptance of gifts, awarding of public contracts). It is therefore not admissible to exert influence, even without intending to do so, on the proper performances of the DPMA staff’s duties.

We thus ask you to respect the following principles:

• Please do not offer any cash or non-cash gifts to our staff.
• Please refrain from offering any personalised invitations or benefits.
• Please consider that any gift will be reported by our staff to their superiors – irrespective of the value.

By accepting these principles, you support the neutral and objective performance of our statutory duties.