A patent is a protective right to an invention which has been thoroughly examined as to its novelty, inventive step and commercial applicability prior to being granted for a determined period of time. Patent protection can be obtained for Germany, the whole of Europe or even on a world-wide basis. A patent provides the holder of such with exclusive and monopoly rights to exploit his invention for a period of 20 years from the day of application. No third party may manufacture or sell a patented article without the permission of the patentee. A third party may not offer, exhibit or make use of a patented article in an industrial or commercial field, or possess or import a patented article.

Following completion of the granting procedure, a patent is granted for a technical article such as a product, a procedure, a machine, a switching mechanism, or for a special use or purpose, inasmuch as the article is new, reveals an inventive quality and has an industrial or commercial applicability.

Thorough preparation of the patent application and in particular the phrasing of the patent claims are of immeasurable importance in order to ensure that the patent rights can be enforced against third parties at a later stage.

Items of a technical nature can also be protected for a maximum of 10 years as utility models. In such cases the patent office checks whether the formal requirements prior to registration have been fulfilled but not whether material requirements such as novelty and the existence of an inventive step are also indeed present.