The German Patent and Trade Mark Office: first-hand service and quality.
Our staff are able to very closely witness the “Land of Ideas” on a daily basis. It is the ideas of our customers who consciously choose the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA) to protect their know-how. This is because effective action against plagiarism and counterfeiting is possible, above all, on the basis of IP rights: Patents, utility models, trade marks and designs effectively protect intellectual property – be it a technical invention, a creative trade mark or the colours and shapes of a new product.
The DPMA is the German centre of expertise for patents, trade marks and the like and operates within the portfolio of the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection. We grant patents, register utility models, trade marks and designs and manage these rights. Furthermore, we inform the public about industrial property rights.
With just under 2,800 staff in more than 100 working entities, the DPMA is based at four locations:
- Munich
DPMA headquarters including senior management, administration and legal divisions as well as patent, trade mark and utility model divisions, arbitration boards- Hauzenberg
Branch office with several teams for provision of information and for Customer Care and Services
- Hauzenberg
- Jena
Sub-office with administrative and IT units as well as design division and another trade mark division - Berlin
DPMA Information and Service Centre (DPMA-IDZ)
In organisational terms, the DPMA is divided into four Directorates General:
Directorate General 1 — Patents and Utility Models
- More than 1,000 patent examiners organised in five clusters (Mechanical Engineering, Mechanical Technology, Electrical Engineering, Chemistry and Medical Engineering as well as Physics) with 37 patent divisions in total
- Utility model and topography division
- Patent and utility model administration
Directorate General 2 — Information
- Information services for the public and internal information services: database search, library, classification systems, Customer Care and Services, Internet editorial office
- Support of the 20 German patent information centres
- Operation and further development of all information technologies of the DPMA
Directorate General 3 — Trade Marks and Designs
- 13 teams in three divisions for trade mark examination
- Trade mark cancellation division
- Design division with design unit
Directorate General 4 — Administration and Law
- 16 specialist areas in four divisions, occupational health management
- All administrative tasks, including personnel and facility management, organisation as well as budget and legal affairs
- Patent attorneys and other agents as well as supervision of collective management organisations under the Act on Collective Management Organisations (Verwertungsgesellschaftengesetz)
Senior management
Senior management
Cornelia Rudloff-Schäffer
Christine Moosbauer
(until 31 May 2021)
Bernd Maile
(since 1 June 2021)
Ulrich Deffaa
Heads of the Directorates General
Patents and Utility Models
tba
Information
Dr Maria Skottke-Klein
Trade Marks and Designs
Barbara Preißner
Administration and Law
tba