The following is an overview of trademark registration in Germany:
       1. The current German trademark law was first formulated in 1968 and was revised twice in 1979 and 1987. In 1979, the content of protecting service trademark was added. The detailed rules for the implementation of the trademark law came into force in 1986. The new German trademark law came into effect on January 1, 1995. The revised trademark law includes: trademarks must be registered immediately after examination. The registered trademark will be announced and can be challenged within 3 months. This important law enables the trademark owner to sue for infringement even when the trademark is still being challenged. The new trademark law also includes the enforcement regulations for the protection of logos.
       2. German law provides that the acquisition of trademark rights is based on registration. In Germany, trade marks, service marks and collective trademarks can be registered in accordance with the law.
       3. At present, Germany is a member of the Paris Convention for the protection of industrial property rights, the Madrid Agreement on the international registration of trademarks, the nice agreement on the international classification of goods and services for trademark registration and the world intellectual property organization. Germany ratified the protocol to the Madrid Agreement on December 20, 1995, which entered into force in Germany on April 1, 1996.
       4. Germany adopts the international classification of goods and services for trademark registration. However, when applying for trademark registration, an application can include multiple categories of goods or services, but the applicant should pay fees according to the number of categories.