The German Patent and Trade Mark Office (GPTO) has revised the German Designs Act with effect from 1 January 2014 and major changes include:
– The German term “Geschmacksmuster” has been replaced by the term “registered design”.
– A design invalidity proceeding before the GPTO has been introduced. Before, a request had to be filed in a law suit at a Civil Court.
– Different designs can now be included in one multiple application, even if they do not belong to the same class of goods.
Source: www.dpma.de