Notice

in view of Hurricane "Sandy" in the United States of America and its impact

(14.11.2012)

In view of the Hurricane in the USA and its impact, the German Patent and Trade Mark Office draws attention to the following:

The German Patent and Trade Mark Office will take the current situation in the USA into account in managing IP procedures, within the scope of legal options.

This applies specifically to granting requests for the extension of time limits set by the German Patent and Trade Mark Office. The German Patent and Trade Mark Office cannot extend time limits specified by law. However, the German Patent and Trade Mark Office draws attention to the option of reinstatement. Any person who, owing to the current situation in the USA, has not observed a time limit imposed by law without any fault on his part can subsequently be reinstated upon request. They will then be in the same position as if they had observed the time limit. The unit in charge will check in the individual case whether the conditions of reinstatement are met.

Please refer to the relevant provisions in the individual IP laws for the detailed requirements and the scope of application of reinstatement. The German texts are available at www.gesetze-im-internet.de.

The provisions concerning reinstatement are set out for procedures

• in patent matters in Sec. 123 of the German Patent Act (PatG),
• in trade mark matters in Sec. 91 of the German Trade Mark Act (MarkenG),
• in design matters in Sec. 23(1), 4th sentence, of the German Designs Act (GeschmMG) in conjunction with Sec. 123(1) to (5) and (7) Patent Act,
• in utility model matters in Sec. 21(1) of the German Utility Model Act (GebrMG) in conjunction with Sec. 123 Patent Act, and
• in semiconductor matters in Sec. 11(1) of the German Semiconductor Protection Act (HalbSchG) in conjunction with Sec. 123 Patent Act.

© 2013 Deutsches Patent- und Markenamt | 30.04.2013