DPMA - German Patent Drawing Requirements 

Appendix 2 (to § 12) Drawing Submission Standards

(Source: Federal Law Gazette I 2003, 1726 - 1727)

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1. The drawings must be made on sheets with the following minimum margins:

                                     Top edge: 2.5 cm

                                     Left margin: 2.5 cm

                                     Right side margin: 1.5 cm

                                     Bottom edge: 1 cm.

​The area used for the illustrations must not exceed 26.2 cm x 17 cm; When drawing the summary, it can also be 8.1 cm x 9.4 cm in portrait format or 17.4 cm x 4.5 cm in landscape format.

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​2. The drawings must be executed with sufficient contrast, in durable, black, sufficiently solid and dark, uniform and sharply defined lines and strokes without colors.

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3. In addition to views and sectional drawings, perspective views or exploded views can also be used to illustrate the invention. Cross sections must be identified by hatching, which must not impair the visibility of the reference symbols and guide lines.

4. The scale of the drawings and the clarity of the graphic execution must ensure that after electronic capture (scanning), all details can still be recognized without difficulty, even when reduced to two thirds. If the scale is specified on the drawing in exceptional cases, it must be shown graphically.

5. The lines of the drawings should not be drawn freehand, but with drawing implements. The numbers and letters used in the drawings must be at least 0.32 cm high. Latin and, where customary, Greek letters must be used to label the drawings.

6. A drawing sheet can contain several illustrations. The individual illustrations should be clearly separated from each other without wasting space and should preferably be arranged in portrait format and numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals. Drawings relating to the prior art that serve to understand the invention are permitted; However, they must be clearly marked with the note “State of the art”. If illustrations on two or more sheets form a coherent figure, the illustrations on the individual sheets must be arranged in such a way that the complete figure can be put together without obscuring individual parts. All parts of a figure should be shown at the same scale unless the use of different scales is essential for the clarity of the figure.

7. Reference symbols may only be used in the drawings to the extent that they are listed in the description and, if applicable, in the patent claims and vice versa. The same applies to the summary and its drawing.

8. The drawings may not contain any explanations; Excluded are short, indispensable information such as "water", "steam", "open", "closed", "cut according to A-B" as well as short keywords in electrical circuit diagrams and block diagrams or flow diagrams that are indispensable for understanding.

9. The following formats for image files are permitted for an electronic patent application at the German Patent and Trademark Office: