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Uniformity

According to Section 34(5) of the Patent Act, a patent application may contain only one single invention or a group of inventions which are linked together in such a way that they realise a single general inventive idea. The same applies to utility model applications (Sec. 4 (1) sentence 2 GbmG).

The unity of a patent application is an essential requirement for the grant of a patent, but it does not constitute a ground for opposition or nullity. The requirement of unity is intended to ensure that only one single or a group of several inventions, which technically belong together, need to be dealt with in the examination procedure.