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70 years of the patent office in Munich, part 3

Munich trade marks: famous brands from the Bavarian metropolis

Not only the German Patent and Trade Mark Office is celebrating an anniversary in 2019, but also the trade mark as IP right: 125 years ago, on 12 May 1894, the "Gesetz zum Schutz der Warenbezeichnungen" (Act on the Protection of Trade Marks) was enacted. Before that Act it was only possible to apply for figurative marks and the competent local courts were responsible for registration and administration, according to the “Gesetz über den Markenschutz” (Act on Trade Mark Protection) of 1 May 1875. Since 1894, the patent office has been in charge of the trade marks. Meanwhile not only images but also words, letters, numbers, colours, holograms, multimedia signs and sounds have been registered.

Over the past 125 years, trade marks have become more and more important: In 1980, the 1,000,000th trade mark was registered; in 1998, the German Patent Office was renamed German Patent and Trade Mark Office; and now we receive more than 70,000 trade mark applications per year.

Since 1949, Munich has been home to our office and as a location for industry it has a large number of valuable and well-known brands. Without claiming to be exhaustive, we would like to present to you 30 Munich trade marks, which are well known at a national level and most of them even at an international level. Among the trade mark owners there are companies which have existed for well over 100 years as well as companies which, due to the political situation, moved their headquarters from Berlin to Munich only after the Second World War – just like the DPMA. And last but not least: young companies and budding start-ups that have emerged in the Bavarian metropolis in recent years.

Picture: iStock.com/pixelliebe

Last updated: 23 January 2024