Patents may be used to protect technical inventions, with patent protection generally being possible for new products and processes. Before a patent is granted for an application the competent patent office examines the patentability of the invention. The maximum term of protection usually is 20 years from the filing date of the patent application.

Designs serve to protect coloring and shape of products or parts of products. Two-dimensional patterns, such as graphical symbols and fonts, can also be protected. Design protection is primarily obtained through registration in an official design register. Generally, the maximum term of protection for a design is 25 years from the filing date.

Utility models protect – similar to a patent – inventions in all technical areas. Principally, however, only products but no processes can be protected. Utility models are registered without any examination of novelty and inventive step. The maximum term of protection usually is 10 years. Utility model applications can be filed alternatively or in addition to a patent application.

New pharmaceuticals or plant-protective agents normally require long approval proceedings which already take up a large fraction of the patent term without the possibility to use the innovation economically. The supplementary protection certificate (SPC) was created to compensate for this delay, making it possible to prolong patent protection for pharmaceuticals and plant-protective agents for up to five years.

Newly discovered or bred plants may be protected by a plant variety right if they are distinct from related varieties and remain uniform and stable upon propagation. Plant variety protection requires an application at the competent plant variety office, which will examine if the plant variety meets the criteria for protection. The maximum term of protection is normally 25 years, for some crops and trees 30 years.

New three-dimensional structures of semiconductor elements can be protected as semiconductor topographies. After application semiconductor topographies are recorded in an official register without substantial examination. The maximum term of protection usually is 10 years