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The Wall Street Journal
A Push to End Germany’s Status as ‘Paradise for Patent Trolls’
A coalition of German blue-chip firms and foreign multinationals, including big U.S. tech firms, is advocating for legislation that would lessen the country’s appeal for those seeking to assert their intellectual property. Supporters of the proposed legislation say German patent law, rooted in the 19th century, is out of date. When Carl Benz received the patent for his car in 1886, “it was one patent for one product,” said Ludwig von Reiche, managing director for Nvidia in Germany and chair of the German Working Group of IP2Innovate.
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Patrick Oliver
New report: Europe faces a growing problem of firms abusing the patent system for financial gain
A published today gives unique insight into how some non-practising entities (NPEs), also known as patent asserting entities (PAEs) or patent trolls, game Europe’s patent system. The report also provides further evidence that the problem of patent trolls is migrating to Europe from the US, and it proposes several policy responses to address the problem.
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.