德国外观设计专利申请流程
一、提交申请
1、请求书，其中应写明设计人和申请人的中英文姓名和中英文地址，提交日期，发明名称和优先权日；
2、外观设计的商品；
3、附图，即外观六面图（清晰）；
4、申请人及设计人的姓名、具体地址（中英文）；
5、如果申请人要求了优先权，应提交优先权文件，其中包括经证明的在先申请副本；
6、如果委托了代理人，应提交委托书。
二、初步审查
德国专利局在收到申请请求后，将进行初步的审查，主要审查申请人提交的文件是否符合法律规定，是否存在遗漏或错误，审查不合格的申请将会收到专利局发来的审查意见通知书，申请人必须在限期内将资料补齐或消除掉缺陷，待审查合格后，专利申请人将会收到意见通知书，申请也将公开18个月。
三、实质审查
自申请日起7年内必须提出实质审查的请求，否则该申请将视为撤回，提出实质审查请求后，审查员将对该项发明是否符合新颖性等要求进行审查，待审查结束后审查员判定合格，专利申请将会进入下一阶段，即公告阶段。
四、公告阶段
当专利申请达到授权条件，德国专利局将会在官方公报上将该申请进行刊登公告，公告为期9个月，在公告期内，如果没有任何人提出异议的情况存在，则该项专利受到专利保护，所有的申请流程至此结束，专利局将授权此项专利权予申请人并下发专利证书。
German design patent application process
1. Submission of applications
1. Requests, which should specify the designer and applicant ' s Chinese and English names and addresses, submission date, invention name and priority date ;
2. Design goods ;
3. Attached figures, namely the appearance of the six-sided figure ( clear ) ;
4. Names and specific addresses of applicants and designers ( English and Chinese ) ;
5. If the applicant requests priority, priority documents should be submitted, including a certified copy of the prior application ;
6. If the agent is entrusted, the proxy should be submitted.
2.Preliminary review
Upon receipt of the application, the German Patent Office will conduct a preliminary examination, mainly to examine whether the documents submitted by the applicant are in conformity with the law and whether there are omissions or errors. The application for examination of unqualified applications will receive a notice of examination issued by the Patent Office. The applicant must complete or eliminate the defects within the time limit. After the examination is qualified, the patent applicant will receive a notice of examination and the application will be made public for 18 months.
3. Substantive review
A request for a substantive review must be submitted within seven years from the date of application, otherwise the application will be deemed to be withdrawn. After the request for a substantive review is submitted, the examiner will examine whether the invention meets the requirements of novelty, etc., until the examiner is qualified after the review, and the patent application will enter the next stage, namely the announcement stage.
4. Announcement phase
When the patent application meets the conditions of authorization, the German Patent Office will publish the application in the official bulletin for a period of nine months. During the announcement period, if there is no objection from anyone, the patent will be protected. All the application processes will be ended. The Patent Office will authorize the patent to the applicant and issue the patent certificate.
