The majority of patent applications seeking protection for a new invention in Germany are applications filed under the European Patent Convention (EPC) which after grant are then validated in Germany. There is, however, still a remarkable number of national German patent filings and of PCT applications which enter into the national German phase directly. The situation is different for utility models, because there are no European or International utility model applications. Applicants can however apply for a German utility model on the basis of every European or International application validly designating Germany.