By Dr Simon Klopschinski As reported previously on this blog, the German ratification process for the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (UPC) has been started anew after the Federal Constitutional Court (BVerfG) had declared the previous ratification act void because it had not been approved by parliament with the required 2/3 majority. Now there…

by Dr. Simon Klopschinski On February 13, 2020 the German Federal Constitutional Court decided that the German law ratifying the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court is void (see here). In the meantime the Constitutional Court has issued another sentence which deals with the European Central Bank’s bond-buying programme (see here). On May 13, 2020…

by Dr. Simon Klopschinski On March 24, 2020 we reported that the German government planned amendments to the Act on the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases in Humans (Gesetz zur Verhütung und Bekämpfung von Infektionskrankheiten beim Menschen – Infektionsschutzgesetz – IfSG), which could also have an impact on patents (see here). In the meantime…

by Dr. Simon Klopschinski In the wake of the evolving Corona pandemic the German government intends enacting amendments to the German Act on the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases in Humans (Gesetz zur Verhütung und Bekämpfung von Infektionskrankheiten beim Menschen – Infektionsschutzgesetz – IfSG), which could also have an impact on patents. The bill…

By Hetti Hilge/Dr. Simon Klopschinski Today the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) has declared the German law ratifying the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (UPC Agreement) to be unconstitutional and void (see here). On 31 March 2017 a private person filed with the FCC a constitutional complaint against the German act of parliament approving…

It seems to be a more and more realistic scenario that the UK may leave the European Union on March 29, 2019 without an agreement. A lot has been written about the effect of such a “hard Brexit” on trade in general and –more interesting to us working in the patent field- on the future…

In March our partner Hetti Hilge reported on a preliminary injunction by which the Federal Patent Court granted Merck an interlocutory compulsory license for Merck’s HIV drug Isentress in the light of Shionogi’s Raltegravir patent EP 1 422 218 (link). The compusory license has now been confirmed in the second instance PI proceedings by the…

by Bernward Zollner It is often worthwhile to read again former judgments of the German Bun-desgerichtshof. In a judgment of 13 July 2010 – docket no. Xa ZR 126/07 – the court has discussed a patent on a staple cartridge for staples for surgical purposes (“Klam-mernahtgerät”). The court has stated that a disclosure is enabling…

In Germany, the winning party is able to recover a significant amount of its costs from the losing party. This cost reimbursement, which is based on a statutory fee schedule, depends on the value of the case. The amount of recoverable fees can be quite significant; the maximum in infringement proceedings would be around slightly…