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A free initial consultation for inventors held by patent attorneys in the Dresden region is open to all. This is an individual legal consultation which exclusively addresses questions regarding industrial property rights. Ideally, all general questions about these property rights should be clarified together with patent information center (PIZ) staff in advance. The initial consultation for inventors is a supplementary service that is part of a portfolio of services offered by the PIZ, in addition to other tools such as preliminary information, thorough independent searching or searches conducted on request (Eigen-/Auftrags-Recherchen), and seminars.

The half-hour initial consultation sessions are held every Thursday from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Appointments must be booked in advance with the PIZ via telephone or in person.

ATTENTION: During the construction work in the Andres Schubert Building, these initial inventor consultations will continue to be held, but exceptionally by telephone. Otherwise, the same regulations as mentioned above apply to these telephone appointments.
The telephone appointments are available every Thursday from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Appointments must be booked in advance with the PIZ via telephone. 

Subject and procedure of initial consultations for inventors

• Initial consultations are held primarily for patents and utility models in addition to technical and non-technical property rights.
• The emphasis is explicitly on initial consultations.
• As a rule, these are not all-encompassing consultations.
• Due to the limited consultation time available and the issue of liability, questions solely related to property rights violations must be excluded from these discussions with patent attorneys.
• The consultation should fully cover everything in said time frame that would normally be accomplished for a fee at a patent attorney’s office.
• The patent attorney may provide the client with their business card at the start of the consultation as a form of introduction. However, the primary objective of the consultation is not to expand their own business.
• The patent attorney should provide their consultation without commercial interests.
• The patent attorney should point out that searches must be conducted prior to applying for industrial property protection.

Organizational provisions for the initial consultations for inventors

• In general, consultations are held at the PIZ
• No alternate appointments are issued to take place at patent attorney’s offices
• During the Covid-19 pandemic, initial consultations for inventors are being held over the phone; at all other times, they are only held in person
• Only one consultation is offered per client per day, even if said client would like to discuss different topics (e.g. patent and trademark)

Recommendations from the PIZ for patent attorneys’ services

The PIZ cannot directly recommend patent attorneys, but they may pass on recommendations from the German Chamber of Patent Attorneys.

The Chamber of Patent Attorneys keeps an internal index of experts the field.

• Clients can email the Chamber of Patent Attorneys directly at DPAK@patentanwalt.de for a recommendation of a professionally qualified patent attorney. If necessary, the PIZ can also send an inquiry on the client’s behalf.
• The client or the PIZ will then receive an email with a list of professionally qualified patent attorneys in their region, typically within one week.