Judgment on FRAND licenses in Sisvel v. Haier by German Bundesgerichtshof
Sisvel v. HAier is a landmark case by the German Bundesgerichtshof on the reach of FRAND licenses on so called Standard-essential Patents (SEP)
Intellectual Property Expert Group
Intellectual Property Expert Group
Category German Patent Litigation
Nokia vs IPCom, ongoing UMTS patent litigation in Germany
Nokia, one of the leading mobile communications suppliers, is further put under pressure in its patent fight against IPCom. Recently, the Finnish company was the losing party in a patent infringement suit before the German regional court LG Mannheim on…
FRANDly Fire
The patent battle between Nokia and German IP asset management firm IPCom illustrates well the lack of practical understanding as to what fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (or FRAND) licensing terms practically means in Europe. IPEG blogged about this earlier. The…
German Supreme Court widens the door for software patents
The German Supreme Court (BGH) in its recent Siemens application decision[1]will give software patent critics new ammunition to oppose IPRs for software patents. The decision regarding computer-implemented inventions seems to tear down all common (German) barriers for software patents. From…
FRAND, a German View on Dutch Dissent
Netherlands’ The Hague District Court Orange-Book decision brings up again the discussion about the compulsory licensing defense and the role of antitrust in patent infringement proceedings. Opposing’s Germany highest court the Dutch Court denies the possibility of responding with a…
Dutch Court to Differ from German Orange Book Decision
In a combined court case between Philips and SK Kassetten regarding CD- and DVD-technology (CD-R and DVD+R disks), the District Court of The Hague (Netherlands) ruled in favor of Philips, in a case that may revive the discussion about essential…
Texas Forum Shopping – Europe has its share as well
Part of any smart patent litigation strategy is to seek the right venue. This is true for Europe as well as for the US. Among practitioners it is known that Texas is a preferred venue for patent litigation in the…
Independent Invention
Is “independent invention” a cure against trolls in that it can be argued that infringement cannot be established in case of an “independent invention”? No it is not. A lot of confusion, misunderstandings, half-truths, nonsensical quasi-lawerly talk exists around the…
Is Nokia to turn the tables in the standards game?
Lately patent infringing issues arising from implementing standard compliant products are catching the news media, among which in Europe the decision in Orange-Book-Standard by the German Bundesgerichthof (BGH). In the US Nokia sued Apple for producing it top selling iPhone…
Germany Speeds up Patent Proceedings, remaining EU jurisdiction of choice
As of 1st October we see a few but substantial changes in German patent procedural law. Let’s pick the most interesting. Considering the pre-eminent position of Germany as a favourable patent jurisdiction in Europe its no wonder the German Federal…
Green-Orange-Red, the German Orange-Book decision is putting industry on alert
The recent German Federal Supreme Court ruling Orange-Book-Standard (BGH, 5/6/2009 – KZR 39/06) seems to be a strong attack on one of the core features of intellectual property rights: the provision of an injunctive relief in (patent) infringement proceedings. In…
Why buying patents makes sense during recession
When reading this month’s issue of IAM magazine (nr. 34), we came across a remark allegedly made by a senior IP executive at a major high-tech company, (“The patent transaction market at a crossroads“) asking himself “how can you justify…
Düsseldorf Appeal Court overrules Federal Patent Court on Pharma Patent
The Düsseldorf Appeal Court sets new standards in enforcement of patents of pharmaceutical companies against generic manufacturers by granting a preliminary injunction although the patent has been invalidated in first instance by the Federal Patent Court, in Germany the exclusive…
IP-Com extends its patent reach towards HTC in Germany
In our blog: “Do Not Blame Patent Trolls” of February 2, we touched upon a new player in the patent arena in Europe, IP-Com in Germany. Since then the debate has heated up whether NPEs (Non Practicing Entities) have reached…
New president Patent Division Düsseldorf Appeal Court
Judge Kühnen, the wel known patent judge in the reginal District court of Düsseldorf for patent litigation, has recently been appointed as the new chairman of the Patent Division at the Düsseldorf Appeal Court (Oberlandesgericht). He succeeds Judge Steinacker, who…
Nokia makes little progress in its European Qualcomm patent fight
In our October 1 blog “Is Patent Exhaustion The Big New Thing?” we referred to the “exhaustion” argument as a pretty powerful tool for Nokia against Qualcomm in their negotiations on a continuation of the CDMA/WCDMA license.Nokia has not come…
German Federal Patent Court Invalidates Pfizer’s Lipitor Patent
On Wednesday, 31 October 2007, the Federal Patent Court (FPC) in Germany invalidated Pfizer’s Lipitor Patent in a first instance decision. This crucial decision for pharmaceutical companies contains some importantaspects regarding the patentability of secondary patents in Germany.BackgroundThe parties of…
German EU Presidency ends with Patent Seminar
Today starts, in Munich, a two day Symposium: “The Future of European Patent Jurisdiction” organised by the German Federal Patent Court, in consultation with the Federal Ministry of Justice, The meeting is expected to bring together 200-250 participants from all…
German Court invalidates drug dosage patent
Germany’s highest court, the Bundesgerichtshof rendered its decision in the Carvedilol II case. Subject of the decision of the Federal Court of Justice was the validity of a patent claim containing a specific dosage instruction for Carvedilol, a beta blocker…
IP Enforcement Directive and Gathering Evidence in Germany
On 26 February 2007, Judge Kühnen, one of the chairmen of the regional court in Düsseldorf for patent litigation, made a speech about legal instruments to obtain evidence in patent infringement cases in Germany. In front of a large attendance…