The publication of the application serves the purpose of informing the general public and is intended to prevent collisions which may occur due to the sometimes considerable time difference between filing of the application and registration of the trademark.

The trademark owner is entitled to a recall in case of trademark infringement.

The “R in a circle” indicates that the relevant trademark followed by this sign is a registered trademark.

Registrability means a trademark meeting the requirements for trademark protection. Older third-party IP rights may nevertheless hinder the final registration.

The registration of a trademark gives rise to the exclusive right. Once the trademark has been registered, it may be enforced.

Date on which the trademark was registered.

The term of protection of a trademark may be renewed against payment of the corresponding fees. Renewal is possible as often as desired.

Retail services/wholesale services include services directly related to retail/wholesale activities.

Right-preserving use means that the trademark owner actually uses the trademark in the course of trade for the registered goods or services.

Claims for injunction require that there is a risk of the infringer committing the specific infringing act again in the future, which is referred to as the risk of repetition. Even a single infringement leads to a risk of repetition. The risk of repetition can only be eliminated by a cease and desist declaration with a penalty clause.

Scent marks are in principle registrable as well. The exact requirements for registrability, however, have yet to be proven in practice. The permanent definition of the trademark is particularly problematic.

The scope of protection of your trademark indicates in which cases you can successfully enforce your exclusive right and in which you cannot. The assessment of the scope of protection requires an examination in each individual case.

The Trademark Office does not check whether similar or identical trademarks have already been registered. Therefore, prior to applying for a trademark, a search should be conducted to determine whether the planned trademark infringes upon earlier rights.

see Research

When applying for an EU Trade Mark, it is possible to claim the seniority of an identical earlier national trademark. If the protection of the national trademark then expires, it is treated as if it still existed.

see Research

A slogan that includes several words can be registered as a word mark.

Denotes an acoustic mark consisting of sounds and noises, such as a short, characteristic sound frequency (“jingle”). When applying for and registering such trademarks, special requirements apply to the documents to be submitted.

Specialist lawyer [German: “Fachanwalt”] is a designation requiring a license, which lawyers in Germany may use if they have acquired special knowledge and experience in a certain field of law, such as in the protection of intellectual property rights. Our lawyers are Specialist lawyers in intellectual property law.

The geographical protection of an International Trademark may be extended to additional countries by a subsequent extension of protection after the International Trademark has been registered.

The term of protection refers to the period during which rights arising from the trademark can be asserted. In most countries, including Germany and the EU, the term of protection is ten years.

A trademark enjoys protection only for the territory for which it is registered. A national German trademark only enjoys protection in Germany, but not in other countries. A European Union Trade Mark enjoys protection in Germany and in the other Member States of the EU. An international trademark enjoys protection only in the countries for which it is designated.

Third-party comments may be used by anyone to inform the Trademark Office within the period stipulated for this purpose why a particular trademark should not be registered.

Three-dimensional mark designates a mark that protects a three-dimensional shape. Typical 3D marks are product shapes or packaging. In practice, the registrability of three-dimensional marks is subject to special requirements.

Titles are the names or special designations of printed matter, film works, sound works, stage works, or other comparable works.