2. Qualification of the applicant-German law stipulates that anyone who wants to distinguish his goods or services from others' goods or services in business activities can apply to the German Patent Office for trademark registration. Federal law also stipulates that an applicant who has no business office in Germany can only apply for trademark protection in Germany according to law if he accepts German trademarks or services in the country where he has a business office and treats them the same as his own trademarks.
3. Formal examination —— After applying for German registration, the German Patent and Trademark Office will examine the legality of the submitted application documents, trademark patterns, power of attorney and other documents, indicate the application date and application number as stipulated in the German Trademark Law, and give a notice of payment.
4. substantive examination-according to the german trademark law, examine whether the applied trademark is registrable, whether the previously registered trademarks are the same or similar, and whether it violates the prohibition clause of the trademark law. for the trademarks that fail to pass the substantive examination, the examiner will notify the applicant in writing and inform the reasons for rejection. The applicant may submit a review within the time limit from the date of receiving the notice of rejection, otherwise, the application will be deemed to be abandoned, and the application date and application number will not be retained.
5. Trademark announcement-After examination, the examiner thinks that the trademark application is acceptable, it will publish an announcement in the official German trademark announcement. The objection period is 3. months from the date of announcement, during which anyone can raise any objection to the trademark and give the reasons for the objection.
6. Registration approval-a trademark that has been ruled to be registrable after objection, or a trademark that has been announced without objection, will be registered and a registration certificate will be issued. The whole smooth application process (if there is no rejection, objection, etc.) will take about 6-8 months.