Organisation

• Court Management
• Boards
• Court Administration

The Federal Patent Court is headed by the President, who is assisted by the Vice-President. The judges exercise their judicial function within the Court’s various boards. All non-judicial activities are assigned to the Court Administration, which is subdivided into divisions. As a rule, the head of these divisions is qualified as a judge.

Court Management

Dr Regina Hock, President of the Federal Patent Court

Picture: © Werner Polwein

Gerald Rothe, Vice-President of the Federal Patent Court

Picture: Federal Patent Court

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Boards

The Federal Patent Court adjudicates in a total of 23 boards (as at 1 January 2023): 1 juridicial board of appeal, 7 nullity boards, 8 technical boards of appeal, 4 boards of appeal for trade marks, 1 board of appeal for trade marks and designs, 1 board of appeal for utility models, and 1 board of appeal in plant variety cases.

As at 31 December 2022, the Federal Patent Court had a total of 94 member judges. This group consists of 26 female and 68 male judges, of whom 53 trained in technical and scientific fields, while 41 have an educational background in law.

A particular feature of the Federal Patent Court within the German court system is that its adjudicating boards are comprised of both lawyers and scientists, i.e. technically qualified judges. Like the legally qualified members, these scientists are professional judges appointed for life, with all the rights and duties of a professional judge. The technically qualified judges participate in all proceedings that concern (at least in part) the properties of a technical invention – for example, in proceedings relating to the grant or revocation of a patent, or in cancellation proceedings relating to utility models. In trade mark proceedings, on the other hand, the adjudicating boards are composed entirely of legally qualified members. 

Depending on the type of proceedings, the boards sit in a composition of three, four or five judges.

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Court Administration

In addition to the adjudicative boards, the Court Administration is a vital component of the Federal Patent Court. It is responsible for all of the Court's tasks beyond its adjudicative function.

The Court Administration is comprised of 6 divisions, each of which is headed by a judge or a civil servant of the senior service and staffed by civil servants and public employees.

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