DPMAregister - Help - Search modes - Beginner's search

Input options in the search form

There are four checkboxes above the input fields for narrowing your search to the following types of IP:

Patents
Utility models
Protection certificates
Topographies

If all the checkboxes are ticked, your search covers all available data.

Various input fields are provided on the search form. For more information on these fields please read the section on "Search fields > Patents/utility models" of the help pages.

Input field "File number/publication number" (global field):

Your search will simultaneously cover the following fields:

DE file number
National file number of the German Patent and Trade Mark Office
DD file number
Patent number of the Office for Inventions and Patents (GDR)
DD application number
Application number of the Office for Inventions and Patents (GDR)
EP file number
Application number of an application before the European Patent Office (procedure with designation DE)
WO file number
PCT application number of an international application before WIPO/World Intellectual Property Organization (application procedure with designation DE)
DE publication number
Identification number of a published German (national) document, for example, first publication of a patent application or corrected patent specification
EP publication number
Identification number of a published document of the European Patent Office, for example, patent specification (procedure with designation DE)
WO publication number
Identification number of a published document of WIPO/World Intellectual Property Organization, for example, application (application procedure with designation DE)

Publication number DD
Identification number of a published document of the Office for Inventions and Patents (GDR)
Please enter number without DD and without kind code in the search form of the Beginner's or Expert search Input formats see below.

Publication number DE
Identification number of a publication of the German translation of the international application (WO - PCT) or publication of the German translation of the patent claims of the European patent application Please enter number without country code and without kind code.

Further information:

Formats of file numbers of the different types of IP of the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (1877 - 2004 et seq.): Benutzer-Information Nr. 71 (in German)
Format of file numbers of the German Patent and Trade Mark Office since 2004: Benutzer-Information Nr. 46 (in German)
Country codes: WIPO Standard ST.3
Kind (of document) codes:
Kind codes of patent documents: DPMAinformativ Nr. 2 (in German)
Information on national and international patent documents: DPMAinformativ Nr. 3 (in German)
Patent protection abroad: European and international patent protection

You can only enter a file number or publication number in this field.

If the file number that you have is inaccurate or incomplete or if you are not sure whether the publication number communicated to you is correct, it may be advisable to use a wild card.
Meaning of wildcards used:
? represents any number of characters or no characters
! represents precisely one character
# represents one character or no characters

If you enter the number without a wildcard, the # wildcard will be automatically added at the end of your search value. This ensures that the search for file numbers returns the desired result even without entering the correct check digit.

Possible entry formats:

DE file number (examples):
19843316.6
198 43 316.6 (with spaces)
198433166 (check digit without leading dot)
19843316 (without check digit)
19!43316.6 (with wildcard)
P2843735.6 (file number used from 1968 to 1994)
2843735.6 (without "P" for patent procedures)
602008000022 (without country code "DE" for Germany)
602008000022.2 (with check digit)
502008000021 (without country code "DE" for Germany)
502008000021.6 (with check digit)
DD file number (examples):
123456
12!456 (with wildcard)
DD173664 (please enter DD and then the first 6 digits of the application number)
EP file number (examples):
07251201.5
07 25 1201.5 (with spaces)
072512015 (check digit without leading dot)
07251201 (without check digit)
072512#1.5 (with wildcard)
WO file number (examples):
PCT/US2009/032214
PCTUS2009032214 (without special characters)
PCT US 2009 032214 (with spaces)
PCT/GB03/05496 [until 2003: 2-digit year, 5-digit number]
DE publication number (examples):
19843316
DE19843316A1
DE 198 43 316 A1 (with spaces)
DE000019843316A1 (standardised: country code, 12-digit document number, kind code)
DE19843316 (without kind code)
?9843316 (with wildcard)
EP publication number (examples):
1782672
EP1782672A2
EP 1 782 672 A2 (with spaces)
EP000001782672A2 (standardised)
EP1782672 (without kind code)
?1782672 (with wildcard)
WO publication number (examples):
2008016082
WO2008016082A1
WO 2008 016082 A1 (with spaces)
WO002008016082A1 (standardised)
WO2008016082 (without kind code)
?2008016082 (with wildcard)

Input field "Title":

Depending on the type of IP, this field allows you to search for:

patents: title of the invention/the patent
utility models: title of the utility model
protection certificates: designation of the product
topographies: designation of the topography

You can enter several search terms in the field. The AND operator is applied automatically to combine the individual terms. The search will return only those results which include all your specified search terms in the title.

Search terms with a variety of spellings:
Example: Personal-Computer, Personalcomputer, Personal Computer
If possible, enter the term with a hyphen for your search; this search will find the largest number of variant spellings and, consequently, return the largest number of relevant publications:
< Personal-Computer > finds the variants "Personal-Computer", "Personal Computer", "Personalcomputer", while a search for
a. < Personal Computer > will not find the spelling "Personalcomputer" and a search for
b. < Personalcomputer > will not find the spelling "Personal Computer"

The search is case insensitive.

Furthermore, it is possible to search for sequence of words by using a phrase search. Enclosing several words in single or double quotes ensures that you will get results only for those searches that include the words exactly as you typed them in.

Meaning of wildcards used:
? represents any number of characters or no characters
! represents precisely one character
# represents one character or no characters

INPUT OPTIONS IN THE BEGINNER'S MODE
Search for	Search Expression
< Mikroprozessor >	mikroprozessor
< Mikroprozessor > and < Speicher >	mikroprozessor speicher
< Mikroprozessor > and < Schutz > and < Speicher >	mikroprozessor schutz speicher
Word string < Speicher für einen Mikroprozessor >	"speicher für einen mikroprozessor"
< Mikrowelle > alternative spelling < Microwelle >	mi!rowelle
< Mikroprozessor > alternative spelling < microprocessor >	mi!ropro!essor
< Mikrowelle > alternative spelling < Mikrowellen >	mikrowelle#
< Mikrowelle(n) > alternative spelling < Microwelle(n) >	mi!rowelle#
< Mikrowelle... > alternative spelling < Microwelle... > Examples: Mikrowelle, Mikrowellenherd, microwellengeeignet	mi!rowelle?
< ...mikroprozessor > Examples: Mikroprozessor, Sprachmikroprozessor, Multimikroprozessor	?mikroprozessor

Input field "Applicant/owner/inventor" (global field):

A search in this field simultaneously finds current applicants, owners and inventors of published patent applications and patents including supplementary protection certificates as well as owners of published utility models.

Applicants and owners may be natural or legal persons (for example, companies), inventors can only be natural persons.
Indicating the names of inventors is only applicable in the patent procedure; consequently, utility model data do not include the field "Inventor".

If you enter more than one word (for example, first name + family name) in this global field, all the terms are automatically combined by the "L" operator. This proximity operator (in contrast to the AND operator) does not search in the entire data field but only within individual sections (segments) of a data field.
Example for the composition of a segment: first name + family name + town + country code.
The fields "Applicant/owner" and "Inventor" may contain more than one segment - depending on the number of applicants/owners/inventors (example: associations of applicants)
Your search terms must appear in the same segment of the data field "Applicant/owner" or "Inventor" in order to return a result from your search. The search combines the search terms in the desired correlation.
Example 1: The search term < Heinz Meier > will return IP rights/ IP applications of "Heinz Peter Meier" among others. The search does not return IP rights/ IP applications of the joint owners "Heinz Schulz" and "Uwe Meier".
Example 2: You want to find IP rights/ IP applications of a Kamps company, located in Hamburg. You do not have more information. The search expression < Kamps Hamburg > does not return the joint applicants "Karl Kamps, Köln" and "Pamela Schmidt, Hamburg".

The search is case insensitive.

The following table contains input examples for the search mode "Beginner".

Meaning of wildcards used:
? represents any number of characters or no characters
! represents precisely one character
# represents one character or no characters

INPUT OPTIONS IN THE BEGINNER'S MODE
Search for	Search Expression
Heinrich Schmidt	Heinrich Schmidt
Company "Schmidt und Söhne" alternative spelling "Schmidt & Söhne"	schmidt söhne
"Schmidt" of Hamburg	schmidt hamburg
Applicant/Owner/Inventor from Canada [Country codes in WIPO-Standard ST. 3]	CA
Company "Smith" in Canada	smith ca
Schmidt alternative spelling Schmid	schmid#
Schmitt alternative spelling Schmitz	schmit!
...schmitt Examples: Schmitt, Kleinschmitt, Goldschmitt	?schmitt
Schmi(e)dl... Examples: Schmidl, Schmiedler, Schmidleitner	schmi#dl?

Input field "Date of publication":

In this field you search for documents published on the day or within the date range indicated by you, whose publication was mentioned in the patent gazette.
The following list indicates the relevant kind codes of documents issued by the DPMA (see also DPMAinformativ Nr. 2):

first publication of patent application (Offenlegungsschrift) [kind code A1]
mention of the publication of the international application in German [kind code A5]
corrected title page of published patent application (Offenlegungsschrift) [kind code A8]
corrected published patent application (Offenlegungsschrift) [kind code A9]
patent specification (without prior publication of patent application) [kind code B3]
patent specification (after prior publication of patent application) [kind code B4]
corrected title page of patent specification [kind code B8]
corrected patent specification [kind code B9]
amended patent specification (after opposition, limitation and nullity procedures including procedures concerning EP patents) [kind code C5]
corrected title page of amended patent specification [kind code C8]
correction of amended patent specification [kind code C9]
publication of patent claims of an EP patent application in German translation [kind code T1]
translation of the European patent specification [kind code T2], provided the mention of the grant of an EP patent was issued in the European Patent Bulletin before 1 May 2008 (London Agreement)
translation of the amended European patent specification [kind code T3]
corrected translation of the European patent specification [kind code T4]
publication of an international application in German translation [kind code T5]
corrected title page [T8] concerning the
- publication of the patent claims of an EP application
- translation of an EP patent specification
- translation of an amended EP patent specification
- corrected translation of an EP patent specification
- publication of an international application (PCT)
corrected translation (corrected complete documents) [T9] concerning the
- publication of the patent claims of an EP application
- EP patent specification
- amended EP patent specification
- corrected translation of an EP patent specification
- publication of an international application (PCT)
utility model specification [kind code U1]
corrected title page of utility model specification [kind code U8]
corrected utility model specification [kind code U9]

In this field you can only enter one specific date or one specific date range.

Wildcards are not allowed.

Possible entry formats:

DATE VALUES
Example	Scheme	Type
06.03.2009	dd.mm.yyyy	German format
6.03.2009	d.mm.yyyy	German format
06.3.2009	dd.m.yyyy	German format
6.3.2009	d.m.yyyy	German format
06.03.09	dd.mm.yy	German format
6.03.09	d.mm.yy	German format
06.3.09	dd.m.yy	German format
6.3.09	d.m.yy	German format
20091026	yyyymmdd	ISO format (without separators)

DATE RANGES
Example	Scheme	Explanation
M1-2009	M < mm > - < yyyy >	all data records from the 1st month of the year 2009 (January 2009)
KW12-2009	KW < ww > - < yyyy >	all data records from the 12th publication week of 2009
Q3-2009	Q < q > - < yyyy >	all data records from the 3rd quarter of 2009
J-2009	J- < yyyy >	all data records from the year 2009

Input field "IPC main class / secondary class" (global field):

The global field provides the option to simultaneously search in the

IPC main class (bibliographic main class)
The bibliographic main class identifies the technical field mainly covered by the invention. The IPC main class is the first classification symbol indicated on publications.
IPC secondary class (bibliographic secondary class).
The bibliographic secondary class identifies the technical fields covered by the invention in addition to the IPC main class.

Information on the International Patent Classification is available by clicking the link "IPC" provided in the input form above the search fields.

You can enter only one IPC symbol in this field.

You can also find lower-level places of the IPC by using wildcards in your search expression. Please consider, above all, that you may reach the maximum number of 1,000 results to be displayed.

Meaning of wildcards used:
? represents any number of characters or no characters
! represents precisely one character
# represents one character or no characters

Possible entry formats (examples):
F17D5/00
F17D5-00
F17D 5/00 (with space)
F17D0005000000 (standardised)
F17D? (for all main/ sub groups, F17D1/05, F17D3/10, F17D5/00 a.o.)
F17D1/? (for F17D1/00, F17D1/12, F17D1/20 a.o.)
F17D1/1! (for F17D1/12, F17D1/13, F17D1/14 a.o.)

Checkbox "Show only IP rights in force":

Tick this checkbox to narrow your search to those IP rights/IP applications that have the current file status "Pending/ in force" at the time of the search: the search returns published applications for the patent area; for the patent/ utility model area the search also returns the respective granted IP rights. The search result does not include lapsed IP rights and applications deemed to be withdrawn (status "Not pending/lapsed").
If this checkbox is unchecked, the search results include all above mentioned legal statuses, however, the search will only return patent applications that are deemed to be withdrawn if the application had been published before the withdrawal (date of the publication of a patent application: as a rule, 18 months after the filing date).

Configure result list

In the "Configure result lists" section you can customise your result list. Tick the checkboxes provided which correspond to the columns to be displayed on the result list.
The fields "File number" and "Type of IP right" are selected by default and cannot be unchecked.

You can choose from the following fields

Status
current legal status
Title
- patents: title of the invention/the patent
- utility models: title of the utility model
- protection certificates: designation of the product
- topographies: designation of the topography
IPC main class
see above: Input field "IPC main class / secondary class" (global field)
IPC secondary class(es)
see above: Input field "IPC main class / secondary class" (global field)
Application date
Only one date is displayed:
- Patents and utility models:
  The date of the field " DE application date " (filing date at the DPMA) is displayed.
  In case of an EP procedure with German designation for which no "DE application date" exists yet, the date of the field "EP application date" (filing date at the European Patent Office) is displayed.
  As a rule: One date from one of the fields "DE application date", "EP application date", "WO application date" (filing date at WIPO) is displayed - following the sequence: DE-EP-WO - depending on which field contains the first date in the sequence.
- Protection certificates and topographies:
  The content of the field "DE application date" is displayed.
Date of first publication
- DE patents:
  case a) Date of publication of the application:
  First publication of the application while the grant of the patent takes place later
  case b) Date of publication of grant:
  Publication of the grant, patent grant takes place without prior publication of the application (as a rule, 18 months after the application date)
- EP patents designating DE and PCT applications designating DE:
  day when the public is for the first time notified of a certain patent procedure by the European Patent Office or by WIPO;
  as a rule: publication date of the application
- utility models: date of registration
- protection certificates: publication date of the application for a certificate
- topographies: publication date of the registration
Registration date
day, when a utility model/a topography has been recorded in the register (not in case of patents and protection certificates).
Applicant/Owner
Name and seat/domicile of the applicant: natural/legal person(s) of an application (only for applications for patents and for certificates)
Name and seat/domicile of owner: natural/legal person(s) of a granted/registered IP right
Inventor
Name and seat/domicile of natural person(s) - only for patents, when the name of the inventor has been indicated
Representative
Name and seat/domicile of the domestic representative, above all, patent attorneys/attorneys-at-law

The drop-down menu "Sort result list by" allows you to determine the sequence of the results by one of the data fields provided. Select the desired data field and choose (ascending/descending) order.

The drop-down menu labelled "Results/page" allows you to choose the number of results (10, 25, 50, 100, 250 or 1,000) to be displayed per page. The default value is 50.

The field "Maximum number of results" enables you to limit the result lists to e.g. 250 or 500 results. If you restrict the number of results, the lists will be loaded faster, in particular in comparison to lists comprising 1,000 results.
For more information on this section, please see "Result list".

"Start search" button:

Click the button labelled "Start search" to submit a query with your search terms. If the search returns at least one file number, a result list will be displayed.