Best for
Best for applicants and owners of German trade marks who want to search the official register and watch it for new filings themselves.
Trademark Search & Monitoring Comparison
DPMAregister vs. WIPO Global Brand Database
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for founders, brand owners and practitioners who want a free first search across international and national trademark collections before filing or commissioning a clearance search.
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | DPMAregister | WIPO Global Brand Database |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free of charge The DPMA states that DPMAregister and the DPMAkurier alerts can be used free of charge; the DPMA connectPlus interface is supplied under an agreement against payment of the marginal cost of providing the data. | Free WIPO's terms of use describe the database as a free-of-charge public service. A WIPO account is also free and adds saved searches and record sets. |
| Output | Configurable result lists that can be organised and downloaded, and register entries that print or download as a complete register extract | Not stated |
| API | DPMA connectPlus, an automated interface to the register and publication data, supplied under an agreement | The terms of use forbid automated queries, scraping and bulk downloading; the Madrid collection is available on request for a fee |
| Languages | English and German | Information pages in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish |
| Hosting | Web app at register.dpma.de | Web app at branddb.wipo.int |
| Made in | Germany | Not stated |
| Registers and countries covered | German trade marks filed since 1 January 1998, registered German marks since October 1894 insofar as they were not deleted before 1 January 1995, an excerpt of rejected and withdrawn German marks, EU trade marks from the EUIPO, and WIPO international registrations where Germany or the EU is designated. The DPMA does not warrant the accuracy and completeness of the EU and international data and points to the EUIPO and WIPO databases for a full search | International trademarks under the Madrid System, appellations of origin and geographical indications under the Lisbon System, emblems under Article 6ter, WHO international nonproprietary names, and trademarks from participating national and regional offices, with a coverage list on the database site. The Madrid collection is updated daily, EUIPO data is retrieved daily, and other national collections update as often as each office sends its data; Peru and Paraguay were added in 2026. |
| Word, phonetic and image search | Basic, advanced and expert searches; the expert search queries register fields such as mark, type of mark, proprietor, classes, goods and services, colours and dates with comparison and proximity operators and wildcards, and figurative elements are searchable by Vienna Classification. The DPMA states that a similarity search is not possible | Search by keywords, names, numbers, goods and services and image similarity, or a combination of them. Logo search takes an uploaded JPG, PNG or WebP image with a choice of search strategy, and the separate Vienna Classification Assistant suggests Vienna codes for figurative elements. |
| Goods, services and Nice classes | Classes and goods and services are search fields of their own, with a link to the internationally harmonised classification of goods and services | Search by goods and services, plus the separate Global G&S Terms Explorer, which helps choose goods and services terms and their Nice classification in different languages |
| Clearance and conflict screening | A register search and not a clearance opinion: the DPMA does not check during the application procedure whether identical or similar marks are already registered, refers to commercial providers for similarity searches, and names patent information centres that search on your behalf for a fee | Results are a search, not a screening: the terms of use state that a result does not imply any legal opinion on likelihood of confusion, the FAQ states that WIPO is not mandated to conduct searches for third parties, and WIPO suggests also searching national and regional registers and consulting a trademark attorney |
| Watch and alerts | DPMAkurier sends automated e-mails daily, weekly or monthly on new publications and register changes, monitoring by file or publication number, by name, by class, by name and class, or user-defined; registration is needed before first use, the number of monitoring searches is not limited, and the DPMA states it can be used free of charge | Saved searches and record sets with a free WIPO account; the FAQ states that a saved search shows new matching records when you log in again |
| Reports and exports | Result lists can be configured, organised and downloaded, a register entry prints or downloads as a complete register extract, and issues of the Markenblatt trade mark journal from 1950 onwards can be downloaded | Reports built from selected records, up to 180 records per report, which is also the download limit; results display as a list, grid or gallery |
| Integrations and API | DPMA connectPlus gives automated online access to the register and publication data with the query options of the expert search, plus weekly data packages for trade marks, usually on Fridays; data is supplied on the basis of an agreement against payment of the marginal cost of providing it | The terms of use forbid automated queries, web scraping and bulk downloading, and the FAQ states the database is not for sale. WIPO offers the full collection of Madrid System international marks on request and for a fee. |
| Deployment | Browser-based | Browser-based |
| Support | Phone | Not stated |
| Onboarding | more entries Documentation and knowledge base, Live online demos and webinars, On-site training | Documentation and knowledge base, Live online demos and webinars |
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Adds a column to the table, from the tools in this category.
Row where the values differ The small markers point at the lower number, the longer list or the stated feature. They describe the data, they are not a verdict.
The short version
Key Differences
- Starting price DPMAregister Free of charge WIPO Global Brand Database Free
- Hosting DPMAregister Web app at register.dpma.de WIPO Global Brand Database Web app at branddb.wipo.int
- Languages DPMAregister English and German WIPO Global Brand Database Information pages in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish
- API DPMAregister DPMA connectPlus, an automated interface to the register and publication data, supplied under an agreement WIPO Global Brand Database The terms of use forbid automated queries, scraping and bulk downloading; the Madrid collection is available on request for a fee
- Registers and countries covered DPMAregister German trade marks filed since 1 January 1998, registered German marks since October 1894 insofar as they were not deleted before 1 January 1995, an excerpt of rejected and withdrawn German marks, EU trade marks from the EUIPO, and WIPO international registrations where Germany or the EU is designated. The DPMA does not warrant the accuracy and completeness of the EU and international data and points to the EUIPO and WIPO databases for a full search WIPO Global Brand Database International trademarks under the Madrid System, appellations of origin and geographical indications under the Lisbon System, emblems under Article 6ter, WHO international nonproprietary names, and trademarks from participating national and regional offices, with a coverage list on the database site. The Madrid collection is updated daily, EUIPO data is retrieved daily, and other national collections update as often as each office sends its data; Peru and Paraguay were added in 2026.
Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.
The trade-offs
Strengths and Limitations
DPMAregister
Strengths
- Covers EU trade marks and international registrations protected in Germany as well as German marks
- Watch alerts by name, class or file number, sent daily, weekly or monthly
- Expert search with proximity operators and Vienna Classification codes
- Telephone hotline for search questions and online-assisted searches with DPMA experts
Limitations
- No similarity search, as the DPMA itself notes
- The DPMA does not warrant the accuracy and completeness of the EU and international data
- Covers marks with protection in Germany only
WIPO Global Brand Database
Strengths
- Free of charge, with a free account for saved searches
- Madrid, Lisbon, 6ter, INN and participating national collections in one search
- Logo search from an uploaded JPG, PNG or WebP image
- The FAQ states that uploaded logo images are not kept once the analysis is complete
Limitations
- Reports and downloads are capped at 180 records
- National collections are only as current as each office's last data delivery
- The terms of use forbid automated queries and bulk downloads, and the database is not for sale
- No conflict assessment; WIPO points to national registers and trademark attorneys for that
Plans
Pricing
DPMAregister
- DPMAregister search Free of charge Online search of the official register and publication data, from the beginner's search to the expert search.
- DPMAkurier alerts Free of charge Alert e-mails on new publications and register changes; registration needed before first use.
- DPMA connectPlus Not stated Automated interface to the register data, supplied under an agreement against payment of the marginal cost of providing the data.
WIPO Global Brand Database
- Free Free Public service of WIPO; a free WIPO account adds saved searches and record sets.
What users say
Review Scores · opens after launch
DPMAregister
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Nothing has been published here yet, and no score is shown. How a review is checked before it appears is described below.
WIPO Global Brand Database
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Nothing has been published here yet, and no score is shown. How a review is checked before it appears is described below.
How we check reviews
Before sending, the author has to confirm three things: that they have used the product themselves, that they work neither for the vendor nor for a competitor, and that nobody is paying them for the review. We also ask whether the vendor invited them to write it. That answer is required, either answer is accepted, and it stays with the review.
Every review is read by a person before it appears. An email address is required and is confirmed: we send a link to it, and a review does not reach us until the author opens that link, so a review has a sender who was reachable at least once rather than being anonymous. Where what somebody writes needs backing, we ask them for evidence that they used the product, and a review that does not get it is not published. We publish positive and negative reviews alike, we pay nothing and offer nothing for a review, and we accept none that was bought or incentivised.
What we cannot do is verify a purchase. There is no shop here and no account, so whether the author really used the tool rests on their own declaration, on whatever we ask them for, and on the plausibility of what they write. We say so rather than implying a check that does not exist.
A vendor cannot buy a review, and cannot have one removed or changed because they dislike it. We remove or edit a review only if it breaks our rules or the law, for example a false statement of fact. Paid placement has no effect on which reviews appear or on any score.
Where this comes from
Where this comes from
DPMAregister https://www.dpma.de/english/search/dpmaregister/index.html · checked against the official source on 2026-11-10
WIPO Global Brand Database https://www.wipo.int/en/web/global-brand-database · checked against the official source on 2026-11-07
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.