Patent Litigation

German patents (and utility models) as well as European patents with effect in Germany give the patent (utility model) holder an exclusive right to prohibit any third party from using the patented invention without consent.

BARDEHLE PAGENBERG’s team of attorneys-at-law and patent attorneys represents clients’ legal interests where their patent rights are infringed or where they are accused of infringing third-party patent rights. These rights are usually enforced in legal proceedings before the competent German courts. However, even the work undertaken prior to the legal proceedings is of considerable importance, particularly with regard to assessing the subject matter for which protection is sought.

In Germany, patent infringement proceedings and nullity proceedings (in which the legal validity of the patent asserted is examined) are conducted in separate proceedings by independent courts (“principle of separation”). These proceedings require special knowledge and hands-on experience. This particularly requires close and extensive cooperation between the attorney-at-law conducting the infringement proceedings before the civil courts and the patent attorney representing the client in nullity proceedings. Optimal coordination is essential to achieve the best possible results for our clients, which is why BARDEHLE PAGENBERG’s attorneys-at-law and patent attorneys have been cooperating closely with one another since the firm was founded in 1977.

With our international network comprising our own offices in Paris, Verona and Barcelona, a close partnership with YUSARN AUDREY in Singapore, and equally close contact with offices in the US, amongst others, we are in the best possible position to protect the interests of our national and international clients both in Germany and further afield.