(1) The German Patent and Trade Mark Office shall be obliged to provide opinions at the request of the courts or of the public prosecution offices with regard to questions relating to trade marks filed or registered if divergent opinions have been submitted in the proceedings by more than one expert witness.
(2) In other respects, the German Patent and Trade Mark Office shall not be entitled without the permission of the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection to take decisions or to provide opinions outside of its statutory scope of activities.