Term of protection

(1) The term of protection of a registered utility model begins on the filing date and ends ten years after the expiry of the month in which the filing date falls.
(2) Maintenance of protection is effected by payment of a maintenance fee for the fourth to sixth, the seventh and eighth, and the ninth and tenth years, reckoned from the filing date. The maintenance is recorded in the register.
(3) The utility model lapses where 1. the person registered as holder renounces the utility model by written declaration to the German Patent and Trade Mark Office, or 2. the maintenance fee is not paid in time (section 7(1), section 13(3), or section 14(2) and (5) of the Patent Costs Act).