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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 Supporters of the proposed legislation say German patent law, rooted in the 19th century, is out of date.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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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.
IP2Innovate
Contrary to EU law, courts across Europe consistently fail to consider proportionality in patent cases, new data reveals
BRUSSELS, 25 November 2021 – Between 2018 and 2020, courts in nine EU member states plus the UK and Norway, handed out injunctions automatically in 98% of patent cases in which an infringement was found, according to data sourced from Darts-ip, a Clarivate IP intelligence solution.
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.