Trademarks

Field of use:
A trademark serves as a mean for distinguishing the goods and services of a company from those of other companies. Trademarks may come as words, letters, cyphers, slogans, devices, colours, sounds.

excluded from protection:
are all those trademarks which do not have distinctive character, that is, which are merely descriptive with regard to the captured goods and services.

Protection in the European Community and other non-German countries:
Besides single, national trademark applications, protection can be obtained by Community Trademarks in the European Community and the International Registration of a national trademark according the Madrid Agreement in selected states. The main difference in the last two trademarks can be seen in the Community Trademark being valid unitarily in all member states of the European Community whereas the International Registration being a bundle of independent national trademarks.

Duration:
The protection period of a trademark extends for a period of ten years from the application date. It can be extended in ten years increments as often as desired.