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Financial Times
Apple, Microsoft and BMW urge EU to stop patent trolls.
Apple, Microsoft and BMW, together with a broad group of other tech companies and carmakers, have called on the EU to take action against so-called patent trolls, who buy up patents in the hope of making a profit through licences or lawsuits.
Other press coverage
IP2Innovate welcomes the call by CDU/CSU to introduce a proportionality test in the German Patent Act to better protect innovators against patent trolls
In a recent the German Conservatives (CDU/CSU) Elisabeth Winkelmeier-Becker and Ingmar Jung express concerns over abusive litigation practices by patent trolls, which distort the market and undermine Germany’s attractiveness as a business location. They note that in light of the high complexity of modern products, companies can no longer completely rule out the possibility of patent infringements. In this context, an unlimited right to injunctive relief create unwarranted leverage for patent trolls who buy up patents only to assert them against companies and extract disproportionately high settlements. Solutions proposed by CDU/CSU are the introduction of a proportionality test in the German Patent Act as well as a synchronisation of infringement and nullity proceedings.
IP2Innovate
Multi-association letter to EVP Stéphane Séjourné on the IPRED modernisation
"We, the undersigned representatives of industry associations representing over 100 companies from various sectors (including automotive, information technology, semiconductors, software & services, AI, quantum technology, telecoms, communications and consumer goods), collectively holding more than 580.000 patents, and employing around 2,5 million people in the EU, urge the European Commission to take steps to modernise the 20-year-old Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive (IPRED) in relation to proportionality of remedies for patent infringement, to ensure that the system is fit for purpose in the digital age and supports Europe’s competitiveness.
Patrick Oliver
European Entrepreneurs CEA-PME and IP2Innovate launch a joint campaign to fight patent abuse by Patent Assertion Entities
BRUSSELS April 26th 2021 - European Entrepreneurs CEA-PME and IP2Innovate today launched a joint campaign to fight patent abuse by Patent Assertion Entities (PAEs), otherwise known as patent trolls.