BARDEHLE PAGENBERG achieves important victory for patent holder High Point in patent dispute against E-Plus, Ericsson, and Nokia Siemens Networks

Press release of November 23, 2010

The decision of the German Federal Patent Court of November 17, 2010 to fully uphold High Point’s European Patent 0 522 772 in Germany, essential for the UMTS-standard, is a milestone in asserting this patent family against telecommunication providers worldwide.

Besides an infringement lawsuit in Germany against E-Plus due to operating its UMTS-network in Germany, which will be heard by the District Court Düsseldorf in mid-December and which Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks joined as interveners on the side of E-Plus, further infringement and validity proceedings are pending in the Netherlands, in the USA, and in Japan.

The victory before the German Federal Patent Court is of even more importance in view of the Dutch District Court in The Hague having recently nullified the very same European patent in first instance for the Netherlands. The German Federal Patent Court followed High Point’s argumentation according to which the Dutch decision is legally flawed. This increases the chances of High Point’s appeal in the Dutch proceedings. The present judgment, the written reasoning of which is still to be rendered, may also be of importance for the Japanese proceedings.

The case is observed with great interest by the mobile telecommunication industry due to its significance also for other UMTS-providers.

Attorneys High Point:

Bardehle Pagenberg (Munich):
Johannes Heselberger (Attorney-at-Law, European Patent Attorney),
Dr. Tilman Müller-Stoy (Attorney-at-Law);
Associates: Dr. Sorel Stan (European Patent Attorney),
Thomas Schachl (Attorney-at-Law);

Dechert (London, Philadelphia): Edward Kling, Martin Black

Attorneys E-Plus:

MERH IP Matias Erny Reichl Hoffmann (Munich): Dr. Wolfgang Reichl (Patent Attorney)

Hogan Lovells (Düsseldorf, Munich):
Dr. Andreas von Falck (Attorney-at-Law),
Dr. Steffen Steininger (Attorney-at-Law);
Associate: Dr. Roland Böhler (Attorney-at-Law)

Attorneys Ericsson:

Hoffmann Eitle (Munich):

Dr. Georg Siegert (Patent Attorney)

Taylor Wessing (Düsseldorf): Dr. Michael Samer (Attorney-at-Law)

Attorneys Nokia Siemens Networks:

Von Lieres Brachmann Schulze (Munich):Roland Brachmann (Patent Attorney)
Freshfields (Düsseldorf): Dr. Frank-Erich Hufnagel (Attorney-at-Law)

Presiding Judge Federal Patent Court:

Wolfgang Gutermuth, 5th Invalidity Senate

Date


Auteur

Johannes Heselberger
Attorney-at-Law (Rechtsanwalt) & European Patent Attorney, UPC Representative, Partner

Johannes Heselberger

Tilman Müller-Stoy
Attorney-at-Law (Rechtsanwalt), Certified IP lawyer, Commercial Mediator (MuCDR), UPC Representative, Partner

Tilman Müller-Stoy

Sorel Stan
German and European Patent Attorney, UPC Representative, Senior Associate

Sorel Stan