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JUVE Patent blog
Patent law reform: Bundestag introduces principle of proportionality
The new patent law adopted last Friday in Germany puts a stop to the use of injunctive relief by Patent Assertion Entities (PAEs). “We also welcome the German parliament’s diligent effort in the context of the new law to explicitly proscribe the practice of Patent Assertion Entities (also known as patent trolls) who acquire patents purely for the purpose of extorting excessive settlements under the threat of an impending injunction.”, told Ludwig von Reiche, IP2Innovate's board member, JUVE Patent.
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lesechos.fr
Guerre des brevets : la lettre de grands groupes mondiaux à Thierry Breton.
A hundred companies including Apple, Adidas, Microsoft, Sanofi and Volkswagen wrote on Wednesday to European Commissioner Thierry Breton, asking him to pull the rug out from under “patent trolls” feet, groups whose sole activity is the massive purchase of patents for prosecution purposes.
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.
WIPR
European courts failing over proportionality: IP2Innovate
Trade group IP2Innovate has warned that courts across Europe are failing to consider proportionality in patent cases, while urging the European Commission to promote similar reforms to those recently enacted in Germany.