The spirit of invention is apparently booming in Germany with domestic patent applications up some 3.4% on the previous year, after slumping during the coronavirus pandemic. Last year, domestic companies, research institutions and individual inventors filed a total of 38,469 patent applications, the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA) announced in Munich on Tuesday. Additionally, there were 20,187 patents received from abroad, which was slightly more than in the previous year. “The fact that the innovation activity of German companies is picking up noticeably is an encouraging sign in e…