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Wall Street Journal
Germany Shuts Door on Patent Trolls
Germany on Friday removed a legislative quirk that had made it a prime destination for globally active patent litigators who increasingly target fast-growing tech companies. Under the new legislation, courts examining a patent claim will conduct a proportionality check to decide whether an injunction would cause “undue hardship” to the alleged infringer or any third party. Ludwig von Reiche, IP2Innovate's board member told Wall Street Journal, that the law was an important step towards creating a better balance between patent and innovation protection. It remains to be seen how judges apply the new law, he added.
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Other press coverage
Financial Times
Apple, Microsoft and BMW urge EU to stop patent trolls.
Apple, Microsoft and BMW, together with a broad group of other tech companies and carmakers, have called on the EU to take action against so-called patent trolls, who buy up patents in the hope of making a profit through licences or lawsuits.
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.
lesechos.fr
Guerre des brevets : la lettre de grands groupes mondiaux à Thierry Breton.
A hundred companies including Apple, Adidas, Microsoft, Sanofi and Volkswagen wrote on Wednesday to European Commissioner Thierry Breton, asking him to pull the rug out from under “patent trolls” feet, groups whose sole activity is the massive purchase of patents for prosecution purposes.