Patent Litigation Proceedings in Germany

The book "Patent Litigation Proceedings in Germany" is an English translation of Honorable

Judge Kühnen's book "Handbuch der Patentverletzung" containing a detailed discussion on

the German case law in patent litigation matters. The German version of his book on Patent

Litigation Proceedings is one of the most excellent sources for German practitioners in case

of legal questions.

German patent litigation courts are constantly enjoying an increase in popularity on

international level. Swift decisions with foreseeable results at reasonable costs are essential

reasons for their success. The famous disputes between the giants of the mobile phone and

smartphone industry are only one particularly prominent example which got a lot of

attention. In Düsseldorf, which is still the most important German jurisdiction for

infringement actions, about 60% are non-German parties which are involved either as plaintiffs

or as defendants. Already in preparation of patent litigation proceedings, non-German clients

want to be informed by their counsels about the practice in Germany. This does not only

concern general information regarding costs and probable duration of the proceedings; the

requested advice needs to be the more detailed the more important the envisaged lawsuit is

for the concerned company and its market position. In many cases, questions with respect to

the German substantive and procedural laws need to be discussed already in the pre-trial

stage of consultation. In the course of the proceedings, there will commonly be a further

need for information. Occasionally, it is in the interest of the non-German plaintiff or

defendant to get an idea of the German patent litigation procedure in order to independently

evaluate the chances and risks and to carefully consider the possibilities of an infringement

action or a legal defense.

All this is certainly not possible in German language, which, by nature, cannot be understood

by non-German clients. In order to make German patent infringement system better

accessible to non-German clients, the publication of an English edition of Honorable Judge

Kühnen's German book on Patent Litigation Proceedings in Germany (Handbuch der

Patentverletzung) suggested itself.

Rechtsgebiet:

Gewerblicher Rechtsschutz, Deutsches und Europäisches Patentrecht

Zielgruppe:

Internationale Patent- und Rechtsanwälte im gewerblichen Rechtsschutz, Rechts- und

Patentabteilungen