Patent Litigation in Germany: Düsseldorf Doubles Appeal Capacity

In its quest for world domination, the Court of Appeals (Oberlandesgericht) Düsseldorf has doubled its dedicated patent litigation capacity. The court has established a second panel (Senat) that will exclusively deal with appeals in patent matters. Continue reading

European Patent Litigation and Germany’s Role as the Forum of Choice

In today’s Frankfurter Allgemeine, my partner Gisbert Hohagen sets out the new patent landscape in the European Union (Deutschlands führende Rolle in Patentprozessen ist gefährdet – paywalled). He summarizes the changes that the new system of unified patents will bring, and discusses the challenges that the new enforcement regime poses to Germany’s role as the forum of choice for patent litigation – with a market share of 60% of Europe’s patent disputes. Continue reading

German Courts at Epicenter of Global Patent Battles Among Tech Rivals

Just as I posted on Düsseldorf’s move to strengthen its position as a global patent litigation forum, the New York Times yesterday ran a story about German Courts being at the “Epicenter of Global Patent Battles Among Tech Rivals”, covering the headline cases currently pending in München, Mannheim and Düsseldorf. Continue reading

My Court is Better Than Your Court – Düsseldorf’s Quest for World Domination

Düsseldorf has announced to invest big time in additional judicial capacity for its patent divisions, both at the District Court (Landgericht) and at the Court of Appeals (Oberlandesgericht), in its quest to become the world’s patent court – “Weltpatentgericht” is the word used in the ministry’s press release. Continue reading