KLINGSEISEN RINGS & PARTNER

PATENT ATTORNEYS

Patents

KLINGSEISEN RINGS & PARTNER
PATENT ATTORNEYS

The patent attorneys of KLINGSEISEN RINGS will assist you with patent applications, examination proceedings and oppositions.

01

Patent application

National German patent applications (GPTO), European patent applications (EPO) and international PCT patent applications (WIPO).

02

Opposition GPTO & EPO

Representation in opposition proceedings on German patents (GPTO, Federal Patent Court) and European patents (EPO), appeal in opposition cases Federal Patent Court, Federal Supreme Court and EPO

03

Nullity proceedings patents

Nullity proceedings on German patents and national German parts of European EP-patents Federal Patent Court and Federal Supreme Court, advice and representation in nullity proceedings before the EU Patent Court (UPC)

04

Patent searches

Prior art searches (novelty), legal status of patents and patent families, file inspections in patent proceedings (examination, opposition, nullity) GPTO, EPO, Federal Patent Court, Federal Supreme Court

Patent application

A patent on technical inventions is requested by means of a patent application filed with the patent office (DE, EP or international). The patent application is a technical-legal text comprising a description, patent claims for defining the subject-matter of the protection and possibly drawings. Patent applications are mostly elaborated by specialized patent attorneys.

Before the grant of a patent, patent applications are examined in a so-called examination proceedings in the patent office. The examination proceedings may take several months to years. The examiners of the patent offices search the subject-matter invention and they examine in particular whether there is novelty and inventive step. In case of objections from the examiners, patent attorneys will elaborate and file appropriate responses to office actions including arguments and in most cases also amended claims. After grant of a patent, there is a possibility for third parties to file oppositions against a the grant of a patent for a limited period of time.

National German, European and international patent applications (PCT applications); patent searches; representation in opposition proceedings before the German Patent and Trademark Office (GPTO opposition) and before the European Patent Office (EPO opposition) in Munich; representation in appeal proceedings before the appeal chambers of the EPO (EPO appeal proceedings); representation in appeal proceedings and nullity proceedings before the Federal German Patent Court (FGPC) in Munich; license agreement for patents; evaluation of patents (patent evaluation opinion); counseling and representation in the area of employee inventions; elaboration of patent strategies; counseling in the area of patent management; participation in patent infringement proceedings, elaboration of patent infringement opinions.

Procedure

Patent application

Filing of a request for a patent with claims, description and drawings in the correct form at the patent office GPTO or EPO. Details of inventors (naming of inventors) and payment of fees patent office.

Formal examination & publication

Examination of formal requirements by formal examiners of the patent office (GPTO, EPO). Possibly official communication about objections and reply by patent attorney. Publication of the application takes place 18 months after the filing date.

Search

Preparation of a search report (after filing the search request) by the examiner of the patent office (GPTO, EPO), transmission of the result of the search to the representative (patent attorney) or applicant with comments on the relevance of the searched patent documents and the state of the art.

Request for examination

Filing of a request for examination and payment of examination fee (possible in Germany up to 7 years after filing). Examination of the claims for novelty and inventive step by examiners patent office GPTO, EPO. Official examination communications and replies of the patent attorney with or without amendments to the claims.

Grant of patent & publication

If the examination result is positive, the patent is granted. A patent certificate is issued. The granted patent is published in the confirmed form.

Opposition by third parties

After publication of the grant of a patent, third parties may file an opposition with the Patent Office within 9 months. For this, there must be relevant prior art which can be filed against the legal validity of the granted claims. After expiry of the opposition period of 9 months, only nullity proceedings before the court (Federal Patent Court, UPC) are possible.