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Merry Christmas and a peaceful festive season

The snowman and the magic of the festive season

Many of us hope for a white Christmas – even if the snow is slow in coming this year. But while the snowman on this year's Christmas card looks up at the antenna and wonders, "Is there a storm coming?", technology ensures that we are better prepared for the weather. Patented inventions help us to predict phenomena such as lightning and thunder with ever greater accuracy – even if the weather, with all its unpredictability, can still spring surprises.

Perhaps the snowman also has an "antenna for the magic of the festive season"; in any case, the measuring station pictured is taken from page 48 of our newly published edition of "erfinden" (invent, only in German). In the magazine, you will not only learn how innovations help us to better understand natural phenomena. We also show how inventions and industrial property rights contribute to solving social challenges. From the energy transition to thunderstorm protection and bionics in vehicle construction: the articles by our patent examiners cover a wide range of topics. Perhaps the festive season will inspire you to browse through the magazine and rediscover the magic of Christmas. Of course, you can also find some information on the keyword "magisch" (magic) in our DPMAregister. Take a look for yourself!

By the way, we are also taking a short break between Christmas and New Year: the DPMA will be closed from 24 December to 1 January. However, submissions via our digital channels DPMAdirekt und DPMAdirektWeb will be possible as usual.

We wish you a relaxing and peaceful holiday season and look forward to welcoming you back in the new year. Thank you for your interest in our publications – enjoy exploring them!

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Excerpt from patent specification DE 10 2004 000 025 B4
System and method for detecting, transmitting and evaluating data and information generated by electromagnetic radiation.
Application filed by nowcast GmbH, 81369 Munich, application date: 18 August 2004, patent expired.

"Description:
The present invention relates to the use of a measuring station with an antenna body designed for measuring low-frequency magnetic fields for a lightning detection network with several spatially separated measuring stations as a pseudo-3D network for identifying discharges emitted from thunderclouds at high altitudes. Furthermore, the present invention relates to the use of an antenna body for the measuring station described above."

Picture: DPMA via DPMAregister

Last updated: 16 December 2025