PatG Paragraph 40 Abs.5 - Rücknahmefiktion

The designation of Germany as a designated state within an international patent application, in which the priority of a former german patent application is claimed, led to the fiction of the withdrawal of the older german application under section 40 section 5 of the German Patent law. In a new decision of the German Patent Office, which was caused by the appeal of an applicant, this former practice was changed. The German Patent Office is now in the opinion that the section 40 section 5 is not applicable, when the priority of a German patent application is claimed in an international application.