Content

Tips for your utility model application

Check mark in front of many question marks

Are you planning to apply for a utility model at our office? To find out which documents you need and how to file your application, choose Application from the drop-down menu under "Utility Models" on the menu bar. Here we have compiled some practical tips for you.

What you have to submit with your application

Only a complete application leads to the desired success, namely the registration of a utility model. The application must include:

  • The fully completed pdf-Datei Antragsformular (in German)
  • A concise and accurate designation of the invention, which must be given in the request (in box 6). No trade marks or fanciful names should be used for this purpose.
  • A description of the subject-matter of the utility model. So please describe what you have invented or for what you are seeking protection.
  • At least one or also several claims. Please indicate in the claims for what precisely you are seeking protection.
  • Drawings, if any. Further tips on drawings are given below.

Detailed information on utility model applications is available in the leaflet pdf-Datei Information for Utility Model Applicants.

Important: without a description your application will be invalid

If a utility model application does not mention the name of the applicant or if no request for registration or no description is attached, it is invalid!

Please comply with the formal requirements

After the registration of a utility model, we publish a utility model specification. We use the application documents submitted by you for this purpose. This is why all application documents must be suitable for publication. Therefore, please comply with the formal application requirements resulting from the pdf-Datei Utility Model Ordinance (Gebrauchsmusterverordnung).

Important: claims, description and drawings must not be placed on the same sheet

Please submit the claims, description and drawings, if any, on a separate sheet each. You can write all claims together on one sheet or also put several drawings on another sheet. However, if, for example, you submit claims, description and drawings all placed on the same sheet, this constitutes a deficiency to which the Utility Model Unit must object.

Do not submit colour documents or handwritten texts

Colour documents and, for example, texts written by hand do not meet the requirements. Documents initially submitted by fax are not suitable for publication according to the current conditions and therefore the original documents must also be submitted subsequently.

What you need to know about the drawings

Zeichnung einer Schublade

Example from the leaflet "Information for Utility Model Applicants"

Do you intend to submit drawings with your utility model application?

Drawings are required if reference is made to them in the claims or in the description. With respect to drawings, please comply with the formal requirements of externer Link Section 4 and externer Link Section 7 of the Utility Model Ordinance.

As the publication of the utility model specification is in black and white, colour drawings are unsuitable due to the risk of loss of information. Figures with shades of grey are problematic for the same reason; please mark cross sections by hatching. Photographs cannot replace drawings.

Please do not forget to also mark the drawings with reference signs which you have to explain in the description and/or use in the claims.

Bild: iStock.com/Altayb, Picture 2: DPMA

Last updated: 13 October 2021