BMW AG successfully brought a nullity complaint before the German Federal Patent Court against the German Patent DE 10 2009 060 504 B4 owned by the patent asserting company Arigna Technology Ltd.
The patent relates to a circuit and method for setting an offset output current for an input current amplifier. The German Federal Patent Court concurred with the Nullity Plaintiff in its argument and revoked the patent at the hearing on March 27, 2023 due to lack of novelty to the extent that it was attacked. It is possible that Arigna Technology Ltd. will appeal against this judgment. The written grounds of the judgment have not yet been issued.
Thus, BMW AG has again successfully defended itself against a patent asserting company and has once again shown that consistent resistance pays off.
BMW AG (like other car manufacturers) had an infringement complaint arising from the German patent brought against it by Arigna Technology Ltd., which asked it to accept a license. BMW AG subsequently filed a nullity complaint against the patent before the German Federal Patent Court and requested that the independent patent claims be revoked for lack of patentability over prior art that was not considered in the examination procedure. The judgment also took away the basis of the infringement proceedings — at least up to the decision at last instance regarding validity.
Proceedings previously brought by Arigna Technology Ltd. before the International Trade Commission (ITC) in the USA, which related to a ban on vehicle imports, were already dismissed by a final and non-appealable decision in December 2022 due to lack of legal validity and lack of infringement of the patents-in-suit.
Counsel for BMW AG: BARDEHLE PAGENBERG (Munich, Germany):
Johannes Lang (German and European Patent Attorney, Partner)
Dr. Patrick Heckeler (German and European Patent Attorney, Partner)
Prof. Dr. Tilman Müller-Stoy (Attorney-at-Law (Rechtsanwalt), Certified IP lawyer, Commercial Mediator (MuCDR), Partner)
Dr. Stefan Lieck (Attorney-at-Law (Rechtsanwalt), Certified IP Lawyer, Partner)
Anita Peter (Attorney-at-Law (Rechtsanwältin), Senior Associate)
Dr. Michael-Wolfgang Waschak (European Patent Attorney, Associate)
Counsel for Arigna Technology Ltd.:
Stefan Burger (German and European Patent Attorney)
Dr. Hosea Haag (Attorney-at-Law, Ampersand)
German Federal Patent Court (5. Senate):
Presiding Judge Heimen, Judge Dipl.-Phys. Univ. Bieringer, Judge Schödel, Judge Dr. Ing. Ball, Judge Dipl. Ing. Jürgensen
