The DPMA online services will only be available to a limited extent at the turn of the year 2021/22. In addition, the new “uniform holiday rule” will apply and will thus also apply to the DPMA’s time limits in 2022 – from 1 May 2022.
DPMA online services – availability recently limited
The German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA) informs about the limited availability of the online services of the DPMA. Due to urgent maintenance work on the DPMA’s IT systems, the online services will probably be available only to a very limited extent until 3 January 2022. In particular, it is expected that the electronic IP application and the generation of SEPA direct debit mandates will not be available during the entire period, the DPMA informs.
Accordingly, the DPMA – and we recommend the same – recommends the good old postal service for sending and filing documents and papers in due time. For all matters relating to deadlines, the locations in Munich, Jena and Berlin are particularly recommended; in Munich there is an acceptance point at the gate, in Jena and Berlin the night mailboxes are used.
In addition, all documents and papers can also be sent to the patent information centres, which act as receiving offices for the DPMA. These are the following locations: Aachen, Chemnitz, Dresden, Ilemenau, Kaiserlautern, Saarbrücken and Stuttgart. You will find the exact addresses under the following link:
http://www.piznet.de/anmeldung/annahmestellen/
Deadline regulation at the turn of the year
In addition, the so-called “uniform public holiday regulation” applies to all DPMA locations as of 1 May 2022. This settles a dilemma with public holidays in Germany, which are public holidays only in individual federal states. From now on, whenever at least one place of business of the DPMA is located in such a federal state with a public holiday, this will be recognised as extending the time limit, even if the act required to meet the time limit is performed in another federal state where this day is not a public holiday. Acts and declarations required to meet a time limit can be made at all three DPMA locations in Munich, Jena and Berlin.
With regard to the turn of the year 2021/2022, this has the following effect: Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve are not public holidays throughout Germany and both fall on a Friday this year 2021, i.e. on a working day. Therefore, a possible deadline will not be postponed if it falls on Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve 2021. However, national German holidays are 25 and 26 December and 1 January.
In the sense of the new “uniform holiday regulation”, the holidays in individual German federal states are interesting in this respect. Thus, 6 January (Thursday) 2022 is a public holiday only in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and Saxony-Anhalt. For the first time, the “uniform holiday regulation” would apply to this day, as well as again on 8 March 2022 (Tuesday). This is because it is International Women’s Day, a public holiday only in Berlin. But since the “uniform holiday rule” will not come into force until 1 May 2022, only the public holidays limited to individual federal states in the summer and autumn of 2022 will be relevant in this respect, but that is still a long time away at the moment.
With these practical tips, our patent and trade mark law firm Meyer-Dulheuer wishes you a “Happy New Year”!
Sources:
Press release of DPMA, December 2021
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