Thursday, June 3, 2021

German Legislature Set to Approve Amendment to Patent Act Relating to Injunctions

Sources inform me that the German legislature is now poised to enact an amendment to section 139 of the German Patent Act, relating to injunctions.  Here is the wording that will pass into law:

„Der Anspruch ist ausgeschlossen, soweit die Inanspruchnahme aufgrund der besonderen Umstände des Einzelfalls und der Gebote von Treu und Glauben für den Verletzer oder Dritte zu einer unverhältnismäßigen, durch das Ausschließlichkeitsrecht nicht gerechtfertigten Härte führen würde. In diesem Fall ist dem Verletzten ein angemessener Ausgleich in Geld zu gewähren. Der Schadensersatzanspruch nach Absatz 2 bleibt hiervon unberührt.“

I would translate this as follows:

"The claim [for injunctive relief] is excluded insofar as, on account of the special circumstances of the case and the obligation of good faith, its utilization would result in disproportionate hardship, not justified by the nature of the exclusive right, to the infringer or third parties.   In this case, reasonable monetary compensation is to be awarded to the infringed party.  The claim for damages under paragraph 2 is unaffected."

The reference to the interests of third parties is, if I remember correctly, a departure from previous drafts.  I stand corrected--I am informed that the October 2020 proposal did refer to third party interests.

Update:  Here is Florian Mueller's take on the amendment.

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