Filing

(1) Inventions for which protection as a utility model is sought must be filed with the German Patent and Trade Mark Office. A separate application is required for each invention.
(2) The application may also be filed through a patent information centre, where that body has been designated for the purpose of receiving utility model applications by notice of the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection in the Federal Law Gazette. An application that may contain a state secret (section 93 of the Criminal Code) may not be filed with a patent information centre.
(3) The application must contain:
1. the name of the applicant;
2. a request for registration of the utility model, in which the subject matter of the utility model is briefly and precisely designated;
3. one or more claims, stating what is to be protected as capable of protection;
4. a description of the subject matter of the utility model;
5. the drawings to which the claims or the description refer.
(4) The Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection is authorised to issue, by statutory instrument, provisions on the form and other requirements of the application. It may transfer this authorisation, by statutory instrument, to the German Patent and Trade Mark Office.
(5) Amendments to the application are permissible up until the decision on registration of the utility model, insofar as they do not extend the subject matter of the application. No rights may be derived from amendments that extend the subject matter of the application.
(6) The applicant may divide the application at any time. The division must be declared in writing. For each divisional application, the date of the original application and any priority claimed for it are preserved. The same fees are payable for the divided-out application, for the period up to division, as were payable for the original application.
(7) The Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection is authorised to issue, by statutory instrument, provisions on the deposit, access — including the persons entitled to access — and renewed deposit of biological material, where the invention involves the use of biological material or concerns such material that is not accessible to the public and cannot be described in the application in a manner enabling a person skilled in the art to carry out the invention accordingly (paragraph 3). It may transfer this authorisation, by statutory instrument, to the German Patent and Trade Mark Office.