Intellectual Property · Hannover

Intellectual Property Law in Germany – Patents, Trade Marks, Designs and Copyright from Hannover

horak Rechtsanwälte advises companies on the filing, management and enforcement of patents, utility models, trade marks, designs, copyright and trade secrets in Germany and abroad. Attorneys and patent attorneys work together on one coordinated protection strategy.

A protection strategy, not isolated filings

Patents, designs, trade marks, plant varieties, utility models and trade secrets protect different aspects of the same product. We help you decide which combination of rights makes sense for your technology, your brand and your target markets – and align your portfolio with your development and sales plans over time: country selection, continuing or abandoning applications, licensing and enforcement.

Patents and utility models

A patent requires novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability. Disclosing the invention before filing – even to a single person not bound to confidentiality – can destroy novelty, and there is no general grace period for German or European applications. We therefore recommend speaking to us before any presentation, publication or trade fair.

• German and European patents: the claims define the scope of protection; examination at the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA) requires a separate request, generally within seven years of filing. Protection lasts up to 20 years, subject to renewal fees.
• Unitary Patent and UPC: the territorial scope of a Unitary Patent is fixed when unitary effect is registered; national validations may still be needed for other countries. Enforcement and revocation strategy must take account of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) as well as the national courts.
• International filings: a PCT application simplifies filing in many countries but does not itself grant a patent – national or regional phases follow.
• Utility models (Gebrauchsmuster): registered without examination of novelty and inventive step, so assessing their validity is part of the strategy.
• Freedom to operate: a patent is a right to exclude others, not a licence to use your own invention. A separate freedom-to-operate search checks third-party rights.
• Employee inventions under the German Employee Inventions Act (Arbeitnehmererfindungsgesetz).

Trade marks

We support you in selecting, filing, monitoring and defending trade marks and in managing your portfolio over the long term.

• Filing routes: German trade marks, EU trade marks and international registrations under the Madrid System.
• Searches: the DPMA generally does not check for earlier conflicting rights, so clearance searches for identical and similar marks, company names and other earlier rights are advisable before filing.
• Specification: the list of goods and services should reflect actual and planned use – it can be narrowed after filing, but not broadened.
• Oppositions: for German marks, the three-month opposition period runs from publication of the registration; for EU trade marks, from publication of the application.
• Use and maintenance: protection lasts ten years and can be renewed indefinitely; after a five-year grace period, non-use can lead to revocation. We recommend documenting use continuously.
• Licences, assignments and coexistence agreements with clear rules on products, territories, quality and enforcement.

Designs

Design rights protect the appearance of a product or part of it. A registered design must be new and have individual character. We advise on German registered designs (eingetragenes Design), registered and unregistered EU designs under the reformed EU design law, and international deposits. Registered designs can be maintained for up to 25 years; an unregistered EU design protects for three years from first disclosure in the EU and requires proof of copying. We prepare filings, including group filings, and coordinate design protection with copyright, trade marks, patents and foreign rights.

Copyright, plant varieties and trade secrets

Our IP practice also covers copyright and media law, plant variety rights (national and Community plant variety rights), the protection of semiconductor topographies and the protection of trade secrets (Geschäftsgeheimnisse) – including the confidentiality measures needed to rely on them.

Licensing and transactions

We draft and negotiate licence, assignment, research and cooperation agreements and carry out IP due diligence. Patent, know-how and software licences should be reviewed against the new EU Technology Transfer Block Exemption Regulation, which has applied since 1 May 2026.

Enforcement and litigation

Oppositions, revocation and nullity actions and infringement proceedings must be planned according to the right concerned, the competent court and the procedural stage. We act for rights holders and for companies facing allegations of infringement – from warning letters (Abmahnungen) and preliminary injunctions to proceedings before the DPMA, the Federal Patent Court (Bundespatentgericht) and the civil courts. When assessing an allegation, we review register status, prior disclosures and possible exceptions. Where appropriate, we also consider mediation and arbitration.