Tag: GPTO

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A Unique View of Munich’s Patent Landscape

View from Munich’s town hall tower

Munich is one of Europe’s leading centers for innovation and intellectual property. This status becomes strikingly visible from the town hall tower, where both the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA) and the European Patent Office (EPO) can be seen in close proximity.

Their geographical closeness reflects the strong interaction between national and European patent systems. The DPMA stands for technical rigor, reliable procedures, and a long tradition in protecting intellectual property in Germany. The EPO, in turn, sets internationally recognized standards through its high-quality search and examination practice and its deep technical expertise.

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GPTO and WIPO DAS

The participation of the German Patent and Trademark Office (GPTO) as a depositing office in the WIPO Digital Access Service (DAS) offers significant advantages for patent applicants. While the GPTO requires that a dedicated request be filed for entering a document into WIPO DAS, the GPTO allows for the deposit of priority documents even when the priority term has (long) expired and for documents that pre-date the GPTO’s designation as a depositing office. This flexibility is particularly beneficial when applicants require access to priority documents after the expiration of the priority term, such as during the filing of a bypass continuation in the U.S.

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Eletronic filings with the GPTO

As widely communicated by the EPO, the EPO smart card will be faded out for the EPO’s online services.

Practitioners who use the EPO smart card for the GPTO’s online services (in accordance with §3(2) numeral 2 of the Regulation for Electronic Filing with the GPTO) should be aware that the EPO smart card can no longer be used for signing in DPMADirektPro after December 31, 2024 (see GPTO information on digital signatures). This applies irrespective of the expiry date indicated on the EPO smart card. The 2FA, which the EPO has successfully introduced as new authentication mechanism, will not be available for procedural acts in the GPTO’s filing software DPMADirektPro.