The Innovation and Patents Centre

We accept applications for patents, utility-model patents and trademarks, acknowledging the application date, for the German Patent and Trademark Office (Deutsche Patent- und Markenamt, or DPMA).Going hand-in-hand with this is an in-depth initial consultation on questions relating to patents, utility-model patents, trademarks and design patents.

For innovators and inventors, strategic advice on the method of procedure is offered for WIPANO, and the initial economic conditions and possibilities for a new patent or innovation project are set out. Information is also given on additional points of contact and, where applicable, on funding options.

The SME subsidy programme WIPANO aims at creating a more invention- and innovation-friendly climate in Germany, and at improving the implementation of research and development outcomes as marketable products. The target groups are SMEs and start-ups looking to protect their developments for the first time via the industrial property rights route. The IPC is offering services and consultancy.

For more info see www.wipano.de

Patent research provides information as to which technologies have already been patented, thereby providing a comprehensive overview of an area of technology. It therefore also forms the basis for further strategic decisions. It is important in the upstream phase of the innovation process, to avoid own development in areas which are already protected by other companies or to illustrate new approaches to solutions. Patent research is also sensible prior to market launch, for example in order to secure the issue of a patent.

Using our IPC patent analysis, we examine a company's situation with regard to the market and its competitors. After all, patents contain a lot of valuable information about markets and companies. Patent analyses reveal the technological base employed by the competition, making it easier to assess the opportunities and threats for a company's own innovation. Through our statistical analyses of patents, we make it possible to use this information to secure an edge in decision-making.

Protecting corporate technologies against competitors is becoming increasingly important; especially in strongly-contested markets with large numbers of competitors.We give advice on devising an industrial property rights strategy, in order to safeguard patents as comprehensively as possible.To that end, we work closely with patent lawyers.The IPC patent strategy helps companies to avoid unnecessary application costs, to have an overview of costs, to establish effective combinations of protected property rights, and to discover possible potential for commercial exploitation.

The IPC offers an IPC Technology Barometer, as an instrument for strategic early identification of trends in technology. The IPC technology barometer evaluates the printed patent specifications which are newly-issued each month (around 20,000), using a system developed in-house. In this way, we can provide trend analyses for areas of technology, and we use this information to inform companies about global areas of emphasis and trends in technology.

The IPC supports companies and start-ups in their trademark research and trademark monitoring.

The offer of services provided by the IPC is rounded off by the events it organises for start-ups and/or established professionals in the area of patents, trademarks, protected design rights, software protection, licensing contracts, innovation funding and current technologies.