German Patent Office
| Deutsches Patent- und Markenamt | |
 |
|
| Abbreviation | DPMA |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1 July 1877 |
| Type | Federal agency |
| Purpose | The central authority in the field of industrial property protection in Germany |
| Headquarters | Munich |
|
President
|
Cornelia Rudloff-Schäffer |
|
Parent organization
|
Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection |
|
Staff
|
2600 |
| Website | www |
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Formerly called
|
Kaiserliches Patentamt Reichspatentamt Deutsches Patentamt |
The German Patent and Trade Mark Office (German: Deutsches Patent- und Markenamt; abbreviation: DPMA) is the German national patent office, with headquarters in Munich, and offices in Berlin and Jena. In 2006 it employed 2556 people, of which about 700 were patent examiners.
The DPMA is the central authority in the field of intellectual property protection in Germany. Its responsibilities include the granting of patents for the registration of industrial designs, trademarks and designs, as well as for informing the public about existing industrial property rights. Recognised partner of the DPMA is the Patentinformationszentrum (Patent Information Centre), united in the Deutscher Patentinformationszentren e.V (German Patent Information Centres Association).
The legal basis of the German Patent and Trademark Office is § 26 of the Patentgesetz (German Patents Act).
The first unified Patentgesetz (German Patent Act) was adopted on 25 May 1877, which mandated the establishment of an authority tasked with reviewing and awarding patents. On this basis, on 1 July 1877, the Kaiserliche Patentamt (Imperial Patent Office) was founded in Berlin.
The Chairman of the newly established office was Karl Rudolf Jacobi. On 2 July 1877 was the first German patent was granted on 1 July 1877 for a "method for producing a red ultramarine colour", invented by Johannes Zeltner. The first trademark registration was on 16 October 1894 for a Berlin lamp producer.
In 1905, the Patent Office moved into premised designed by the architects Solf and Wichards on the corner of Gitschiner Straße and Lindenstraße in Kreuzberg, with a characteristic 243-metre front on the elevated highway.
In 1919, the Patent Office was renamed the Reichspatentamt (State Patent Office).
The Nazi anti-Semitic and anti-foreigner laws strangled scientific output and patent applications. Almost as soon as they came into power, the Nazis moved to throw the Jews out of the German Patent Offices, with only a few exceptions for those who had served at the front during World War I or who had lost a parent or son in fighting. “Law Relating to the Admission to the Profession of Patent-agent and Lawyer of 22 April 1933. The Government of the Reich has resolved the following law which is promulgated herewith: Section 1. Patent-agents which are of non-Aryan descent pursuant to the law relating to the reestablishment of the Professional Civil Service of 7 April 1933 may be taken off the roster of patent-agents kept by the Reich Patent Office up to 30 September 1933…”
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Wikipedia