(1) Within 15 months after the date of filing or, if an earlier date is claimed to govern the application, within 15 months after that date, the applicant is to designate the inventor or inventors and affirm that, to his or her knowledge, no other persons participated in the invention. Where the applicant is not the inventor or not the sole inventor, the applicant is also to indicate how he or she acquired the right to the patent. The accuracy of the statements made is not verified by the German Patent and Trade Mark Office.
(2) Where the applicant substantiates that he or she was prevented by exceptional circumstances from making the declarations as required by subsection (1) in due time, the German Patent and Trade Mark Office is to grant the applicant a reasonable extension of the time limit. The time limit may not be extended beyond the delivery of the decision on the grant of the patent.