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"A sustainable strengthening of Germany as a location for innovation" – additional posts for the German Patent and Trade Mark Office – attractive employer with many career opportunities

Press release of 6 July 2018

The President of the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA), Cornelia Rudloff-Schäffer, has assessed the additional posts for the DPMA in the forthcoming federal budget as a sustainable strengthening of Germany as a location for innovation. "This will contribute to protecting inventiveness and creativity in our country even more effectively than before," said Cornelia Rudloff-Schäffer in Munich on Friday. Overall, 117 additional posts are planned for the DPMA in the 2018 budget; it is envisaged that roughly another 100 will be added in 2019. "I would like to thank all those policy makers who have campaigned for the protection of innovation – in particular our Federal Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection, Dr Katarina Barley," emphasised the DPMA President.

A large proportion of the posts for the DPMA are earmarked for patent examination, which is clearly understaffed. In addition, it is planned to recruit additional experts to further develop the office’s IT systems and expand its e-government services. "We want to ensure the internationally outstanding quality of our patent examination and continue our pioneering role among German authorities in the field of digitisation," said Cornelia Rudloff-Schäffer.

At the same time, the President pointed out that the DPMA urgently needed further staff increases. With the additional posts approved now, she added, it would be possible to continue the high-quality work for which the DPMA was known. However, the number of patent applications and search requests was continuing to rise steeply and, in addition, the staff shortage in recent years had resulted in a backlog of more than 200,000 pending examination procedures, she said.

Attractive and secure jobs for engineers

In order to fill its new posts, the DPMA will launch a recruitment campaign for engineers, scientists and IT specialists in the coming weeks. "As an attractive employer in the heart of Munich we offer secure, family-friendly jobs, flexible part-time models and teleworking opportunities and are confident that we will be able to attract new, highly qualified staff," said Cornelia Rudloff-Schäffer. Thanks to the largely digitised processes, a third of the DPMA staff are currently working partly from home.

Due to the high pay grades (up to A16) as well as the excellent pension scheme and the good career opportunities, the jobs were certainly financially lucrative for employees from industry, she said. Anyway, the new recruits could expect an exciting environment, she added: "Those who work for us always have a finger on the pulse of technological development and help to protect genuine innovations in order to drive growth and prosperity."

The German Patent and Trade Mark Office

Inventiveness and creativity need effective protection. The DPMA is the German centre of expertise for all intellectual property rights – patents, utility models, trade marks and designs. As the largest national patent office in Europe and the fifth largest national patent office in the world, our office stands for the future of Germany as a country of inventors in a globalised economy. Its staff of over 2,600 at three locations – Munich, Jena and Berlin – provide services for inventors and companies. They implement federal innovation strategies and develop the national, European and international protection systems further.

Last updated: 5 November 2024