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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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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
IP2I welcomes the European Parliament's formal request, adopted today, calling on the Commission to investigate the practices of patent assertion entities in Europe.
Brussels, 11 November 2021 – The European Parliament has instructed the European Commission to investigate in-depth how PAEs, also known as non-practising entities, or more colloquially patent trolls, game the European patent system.
Managing IP
UPC take-up likely to be poor, say industry counsel
In its article on whether companies are likely to make use of the Unified Patent Court (UPC), Managing IP reports that implementers see the enforcement associated with the unitary patent as more of a threat than an opportunity due to the enormous number of applicable patents and therefore likely lawsuits for their infringement and associated defense.