Filing date

(1) The filing date of the utility model application is the day on which the documents under section 4(3) nos. 1 and 2 and, insofar as they at least contain particulars that appear to constitute a description, under section 4(3) no. 4, have been received 1. by the German Patent and Trade Mark Office, or 2. where that body has been designated for the purpose by notice of the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection in the Federal Law Gazette, by a patent information centre.
(2) Where the application contains a reference to drawings and no drawings are attached to the application, or where at least part of a drawing is missing, the German Patent and Trade Mark Office shall call on the applicant to either file the missing drawings within one month of service of the request, or declare that the reference is to be treated as not made. Where the applicant, in response to this request, files the missing drawings or the missing parts, the day of receipt of the drawings or the missing parts by the German Patent and Trade Mark Office becomes the filing date; otherwise, the reference to the drawings is treated as not made.
(3) Paragraph 2 applies accordingly to missing parts of the description.