DPMAEvidence from your search
Utility-model cancellation
Sections 15 to 17 GebrMGGebrauchsmusterlöschung
A request to the DPMA to cancel a registered German utility model. Utility models are registered without any examination, so this is usually the first time anyone checks validity; if the owner does not object within one month, the model is cancelled.
At a glance
- Deadline
- Any time while registered
- Official fee
- €300
- Proceeding
- Inter partes · named
- Agent needed
- No, if based in Germany
- Owner faces
- Must object within 1 month
- Who can file
- Anyone, with no need to show an interest (Section 15(1) GebrMG). Only the person whose invention was taken without consent can rely on misappropriation as a ground (Sections 13(2) and 15(2)).
- Deadline
- None while the utility model is registered, which is at most ten years from filing (Section 23(1)). After it has expired or been surrendered, only a declaration that it was invalid can be sought, and only with a legal interest, such as a pending claim for damages (BGH X ZB 27/05).
- Language
- German (Section 21(1) GebrMG with Section 126 PatG). Prior art in English, French, Italian or Spanish can be filed as it is and needs a German translation only if the office asks; other languages need one within a month (Section 9 GebrMV).
- Anonymous
- No. The request names the applicant, who becomes a party. A straw man may file in its own name, but it is then held to any bar that binds the person behind it, such as a no-challenge agreement (BGH X ZR 23/11).
- Representation
- Not required for an applicant with a residence, seat or establishment in Germany. Anyone else must appoint a German Rechtsanwalt or Patentanwalt (Section 28(1) GebrMG).
- How it is filed
- In writing to the DPMA, stating the facts relied on (Section 16 GebrMG): by post, by fax (Section 11 DPMAV), or through DPMAdirektPro with a qualified electronic signature (Section 8(2) ERVDPMAV). There is no official form.
- Effect
- The owner gets one month to object, and if it does not, the utility model is cancelled (Section 17(1)). If it objects, the Gebrauchsmusterabteilung decides by reasoned decision, after an oral hearing if a party asks for one, and can cancel the model in full or in part (Sections 15(3) and 17(2) to (3)).
- Party status
- The applicant is a full party: it sees the owner's submissions, takes part in any hearing and can appeal to the Federal Patent Court (Section 18). It bears costs in proportion to how far it loses (Section 17(4)).
Official fee, in detail
| When | Fee |
|---|---|
| Cancellation request, per applicant (fee no. 323 100) | €300 |
| Appeal to the Federal Patent Court (fee no. 401 100) | €500 |
| If you lose: the owner's attorney fees, on the value the office sets (Section 17(4) and (5)) | Varies with the value |
The fee falls due on filing and must be paid within three months, or the request is deemed withdrawn (Sections 3(1) and 6 PatKostG). The office decides what share of the costs each side bears, applying the court rule that the loser pays unless fairness requires otherwise (Section 17(4) GebrMG with Section 84(2) PatG). Office fees only, checked 13 October 2026.
25 pages · PDF
A real one, as filed
Löschungsantrag (cancellation request) against utility model 20 2025 103 081
European Aerosols asked the DPMA to cancel a Peter Kwasny aerosol-can utility model in full. The owner objected within the month, so the Gebrauchsmusterabteilung will decide.
What it is
Utility-model cancellation, in brief
A request to the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA) to cancel a registered German utility model (Gebrauchsmuster). Utility models are registered without any check of novelty or inventive step, so a cancellation request is usually the first time anyone at the office examines whether the right is valid. The grounds are that the subject matter is not protectable (not new, not inventive, not industrially applicable, or excluded, such as a process), that it was already protected by an earlier patent or utility model application, or that it goes beyond the application as first filed (Section 15(1) GebrMG).
The DPMA sends the request to the owner, who has one month to object. If the owner stays silent, the model is cancelled. If the owner objects, the case becomes a two-sided proceeding before a Gebrauchsmusterabteilung, a panel of two technical members and one legal member (Section 10(3)), which decides after written submissions and, on request, an oral hearing. The outcome is full cancellation, partial cancellation (often after the owner narrows its claims) or rejection, and either side can appeal to the Federal Patent Court.
Use it when
- A competitor has warned or sued you over a German utility model and you have prior art the office never examined.
- You want the right removed for everyone, not just a ruling between you and the owner.
- You want a technically qualified panel to rule on validity for an office fee of EUR 300, far less than a court action costs.
Choose another route when
- The right is a granted German patent still within nine months of the grant publication: file an opposition. Opposition
- The right is a German patent and the opposition period is over: bring a nullity action at the Federal Patent Court. Nullity action
- The right is a European patent in force in Germany: bring a national revocation action. National revocation of a European patent
- The right is a European patent within the Unified Patent Court's reach and you want it revoked in all UPC states at once. Revocation action
- You only want the office's view of the prior art without becoming a party: anyone can request a search report on a utility model for EUR 250 (Section 7 GebrMG, fee no. 321 200).
Where IPtorch fits
The prior art the office never examined.
A cancellation request stands on documents. IPtorch's invalidity search finds them and charts every claim against them; your representative files the request.
- Each claim of the utility model split into its limitations and charted against the closest art, with the quoted passage behind each cell.
- Patent publications ranked by how much of each claim they disclose, the strongest first.
- The same evidence carries a nullity action or an opposition against a parallel patent of the same family.
Where these go wrong
What to check before filing.
- Ask the owner to surrender the model first, giving your reasons and a deadline. If you file without that and the owner simply does not object, you can be ordered to pay the costs (Section 93 ZPO applied by analogy, BPatG 35 W (pat) 15/20).
- A rejection binds you later: if the owner then sues you for infringement, the court is bound by the rejected request between the same parties (Section 19 GebrMG), so put all your prior art in the first request.
- An applicant without its usual residence in the EU or EEA must give security for the owner's costs if the owner asks (Section 16 GebrMG with Section 81(6) PatG).
Start with the evidence.
Upload the patent or enter its number. The invalidity search charts every claim.
Start an invalidity searchFacts checked against the office's rules on 22 September 2026, fees on 13 October 2026. The sample is a public record, reproduced unchanged. IPtorch is not a law firm and this page is not legal advice. Its output is unsigned work product for a registered professional to review, sign and file; nothing is filed and no fee is paid for you. Confirm current requirements, fees and deadlines with the receiving office.