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Notice of 24 January 2020

concerning the search report for a patent application according to section 43 of the Patent Act (Patentgesetz)

Upon request, the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA) identifies the state of the art with respect to a patent application and makes a preliminary assessment of the patentability of the invention applied for. The DPMA informs the applicant of the result of this assessment in a search report pursuant to section 43 of the Patent Act.

Since 24 January 2020, a revised form has been used for this search report. What prompted the redesign of the form was that applicants wanted a compact and clear presentation of the search results while retaining the informative content. Therefore, in particular, the structure of section "D" containing the preliminary assessment of patentability of the invention applied for is now much more user-friendly.

With a view to a speedy examination procedure, the DPMA now requests those applicants who file a request for examination under section 44 of the Patent Act on the basis of the available search results to seize the suggestions contained in the search report and to file (if applicable, together with the request for examination) a substantive comment and/or amended claims or documents.

Last updated: 23 December 2024