FAQs about Notice No. 1/26 of 2 March 2026

Notice No. 1/26 of the President of 2 March 2026 refers to the revision of the Search and Examination Guidelines with regard to the use of external electronic sources of search, including by using artificial intelligence applications, to the extent their use is permitted at the DPMA. The Notice is an accompanying communication informing about the revision of the Search and Examination Guidelines.

The Guidelines for the Search under Section 43 of the Patent Act (Search Guidelines) and the Guidelines for the Examination Procedure (Examination Guidelines) are internal directives for the lawful performance of official duties. They are binding on the patent examiners and must be complied with in any search pursuant to section 43 of the Patent Act and any examination pursuant to section 44 of the Patent Act. They are issued by the President of the DPMA and aim to ensure that duties are performed in a consistent manner and that the same principles are applied to the carrying out of searches and examinations (section 1 (1) of the Ordinance on the German Patent and Trade Mark Office). The guidelines are published to inform the parties involved and the public about the principles to be applied to search and examination.

The revised guidelines expressly allow examiners to use external electronic sources of search, including by using artificial intelligence applications, to the extent their use is permitted at the DPMA. The guidelines also specify the framework conditions applicable to such use. At the same time, it is clearly emphasised in the guidelines that the search must continue to be conducted in such a way as to not make available to the public any information contained in unpublished patent applications and that the confidentiality continues to be maintained and protected with regard to unpublished applications. This protection has in no way been altered by the revised guidelines.

Item 5 of the Search Guidelines specifically provides (emphasis added):

"For conducting a search, external electronic sources of search including online technical journals, online databases and other websites can also be used. The use of such sources must be decided on a case-by-case basis. In some technical fields, however, such as information technology or chemistry, determining the state of the art is usually not possible in any other way. When conducting the search, applications of artificial intelligence may also be used, to the extent their use is permitted at the DPMA. However, it has to be made sure in any case that the content of yet unpublished applications is not made available to the public through the use of search terms or in any other way. It is the responsibility of each examining section to choose search terms and search strategies by which a search can be carried out in a reasonable, efficient and comprehensive way that at the same time maintains and protects the confidentiality with regard to unpublished applications. This especially requires considering on a case-by-case basis which use of text, terms, sequences or chemical structures is appropriate in which scope, taking into account the security level of the respective source of search as well as any particularities of the respective technical field and its usual sources and methods of search."

To assess the protectability of an invention, the DPMA must determine the worldwide state of the art, which is held to comprise everything made available to the public before the date governing the filing or priority date of the application by means of a written or oral description or in any other way (section 3 (1) sentence 2 of the Patent Act). The knowledge available and retrievable worldwide is increasing faster than ever before in the age of digitisation and artificial intelligence. Such knowledge is mostly only provided in electronic form and, in many cases, such as in the fields of information technology or chemistry, only available in external sources of search. Accordingly, a high-quality search is often possible only if external electronic sources of search are also used.

Notice No. 1/26 points out that, even if all due care required in each individual case is exercised, it can never be completely ruled out that any content from applications may become accessible to third parties. From the point of view of the DPMA, this residual risk is purely theoretical. No single case is known where confidential information contained in an application has become available to third parties.

Our examiners receive comprehensive training and are fully aware of their strict obligation to protect confidentiality pursuant to the Search Guidelines as well as of the applicable standards of due care. In particular, this also applies to the selection and use of external sources of search. Additional measures of the DPMA to protect confidentiality include compliance with high IT security standards, technical safeguards and contractual agreements.

The revised versions of the Search and Examination Guidelines allow examiners to also make use of artificial intelligence applications when conducting a search, to the extent their use is permitted at the DPMA. A responsible and safe use of artificial intelligence is of highest priority at the DPMA. To support patent searches conducted with respect to unpublished applications, currently only the use of internal artificial intelligence applications is permitted. In the future, in accordance with the Search and Examination Guidelines, external applications may also be permitted. However, external artificial intelligence applications can be permitted at the DPMA only after they have been thoroughly assessed beforehand and if they comply with all legal requirements, including those on the protection of confidentiality.

No, not at all. The DPMA is aware that an assessment of the prospects of success of a patent application within the priority year is important to many applicants. The information about the option to submit a search or examination request only after publication is provided solely as a precautionary measure targeted at applicants who, after an individual assessment, consider the residual risk, which, from the DPMA’s perspective, is purely theoretical, not bearable due to the particular circumstances of the individual case.