Introduction to Intellectual Property Law in Germany

This article provides an overview of intellectual property (IP) law in Germany. It explains that the internationalization and Europeanization of IP law has reached a stage where it seems more appropriate to speak of IP law “in Germany” than of “German” IP law. Only fragments of today’s IP law with limited economic significance originate from autonomous German legal sources that do not implement EU directives or international treaty obligations. This article pays particular attention to these German specificities of IP law in Germany. It includes hyperlinks to IP statutes and important court decisions and covers the following topics: constitutional framework; sources of German IP law online; rights in trademarks, trade names and other distinctive signs (including geographical indications); copyright, neighbouring rights and collective management organizations and their regulation; patents, utility models and employee inventions; design protection; protection of semiconductor topographies; plant varieties protection; IP contract law; civil and criminal enforcement of IPRs; protection of trade secrets; IP-related unfair competition claims.