Patent and Trademark Centre Saar
The Saar Patent and Trademark Centre – also known as PMZ Saarbrücken for short – is the regional contact point for all questions relating to industrial property protection.
The protection of intellectual property, whether for technical or scientific inventions, for a company name or product designation or for the design of a new product, is existentially important for a company. For this purpose, it is just as necessary to know one’s own IP rights as it is to know those of the competition in order to protect oneself and, on the other hand, not to infringe the rights of competitors.
The services of the Patent and Trademark Office are open to all interested parties from trade and industry, universities and colleges as well as to independent inventors or start-up founders.
- IP rights for intellectual property
- Information broker for industrial property rights - in particular patents, utility models, trademarks, designs - and for copyrights
- Official receiving office for patent, utility model, trademark and design applications
- Recognised cooperation partner of the German Patent and Trademark Office
- Partner for utilisation of IP rights
- with a saaris intermediary for patent application funding opportunities
New technical inventions, memorable brands, original designs and artistic works have one thing in common:
They are the product of the intellectual effort of their creator. With intangible IP rights, the legislator creates the possibility of being able to protect outstanding intellectual achievements as intellectual property against misuse.
- Patents are titles (rights) of protection granted for technical inventions. The invention is a new solution to a technical problem, that is, if this invention does not correspond to the current state of the art. This also includes products or processes.
- Utility models are also titles (rights) of protection granted for technical inventions. However, a lower inventive step is required than for the patent and there is no substantive examination. It is also largely intended for fast-moving assets and is not issued for procedures.
- Trademarks are protected signs with which a company distinguishes its goods or services from those of other companies. In principle, all signs that can be represented graphically can be a trademark within the meaning of the law, for example “Coca-Cola”, “4711”, the Mercedes star, slogans or short melodies.
- Designs are rights that protect the appearance of a commercial product. This is the so-called design protection, which is becoming more and more important. This can be used to protect, for example, the appearance of a car, a drill, a chocolate or a piece of clothing.
- Semiconductor protection is the ability to protect topographies, which is the three-dimensional structure of semiconductor products such as integrated circuits or microchips.
- Plant variety protection protects the intellectual property of the breeder of a plant variety if it is distinct, homogeneously stable and new and can be designated by a variety name that can be registered. Only the holder of a plant variety right shall be entitled to market, produce for commercial purposes or import propagating material of a protected variety.
- Copyrights first cover the classical works of literature, sound art, visual arts and cinematography and are intended to protect the author against unauthorised reproduction, distribution, public performance, etc. In today’s information society with its multimedia networking, however, consumer graphics, advertising slogans, feature films, video games or computer programmes are also protected.
The Patent and Trademark Centre is the official receiving office of the German Patent and Trademark Office for IP applications.
The following are received:
- German patent registrations
- German utility model applications
- European patent registrations
- International patent registrations (PCT)
- German trademark registrations
- German design registrations
We support you in submitting your applications in the correct form, which avoids lengthy delays in processing.
These are received directly at the Patent and Trademark Centre during opening hours. At any time of the day or night, on all days of the week, the automatic day/night letterbox with time registration can also be used.
Like the other German patent information centres, the Patent and Trademark Centre is a recognised cooperation partner of the German Patent and Trademark Office under a cooperation agreement.
Other memberships:
The Patent and Trademark Centre itself and in cooperation with other departments of saar.is or the saar.is members – in particular the Saarland Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour, Energy and Transport and the Chamber of Industry and Commerce – provides assistance to inventors:
- Publication of inventions
- Licensing (licensor or licensee)
- Patent assessment as part of financing
- Presentation at exhibitions and trade fairs
- Marketing
- Start-up as a result of IP right applications
Within the framework of the BMWK funding programme WIPANO, small and medium-sized enterprises are supported in the legal protection and economic exploitation of their innovative ideas.
More detailed information on the contribution requirements and funding priorities is available in the guideline and on the BMWK website.
Please note: In order not to lose out on your funding opportunity, you should contact us before commissioning a service.
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