Germany: Litigation, Mediation & Arbitration

The Enlarged Board of Appeal at the European Patent Office is poised to resolve a fundamental question that has divided patent practitioners for years: must patent descriptions...

The Enlarged Board of Appeal will address fundamental questions about how patent claims should be interpreted using the description and drawings, and what this means for assessing whether amendments introduce added subject-matter. Three competing approaches have emerged in Board of Appeal decisions following G 1/24, each leading to different outcomes when determining if claim amendments extend beyond the original application.

The German Federal Court of Justice has established new boundaries for bundled cartel damages claims, requiring structured presentation and judicial feasibility while scrutinizing litigation funding agreements for conflicts of interest.

The German Federal Court of Justice has established new boundaries for bundled cartel damages claims, requiring structured presentation and judicial feasibility while scrutinizing litigation funding agreements for conflicts of interest.

In an eagerly awaited decision, the UPC Court of Appeal has provided detailed guidance on the UPC’s extra-territorial reach - 11 months after the Mannheim Local Division’s landmark...

The Düsseldorf Local Division of the Unified Patent Court has adopted The Hague's four-step equivalence test in a patent dispute between Wonderland Nurserygoods and Cybex.

International Arbitration Comparative Guide for the jurisdiction of Germany, check out our comparative guides section to compare across multiple countries

Germany's class action landscape is distinctive in that potential claimants have a variety of legal options, each with their own characteristics.

On 18 November 2024, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, BGH) issued a judgement that makes it easier to prove damages in the form of loss of control in connection with data protection incidents.

In two parallel infringement proceedings that had been terminated before a decision on the merits was rendered, a law firm applied for access to the parties’ written submissions under R. 262.1(b) RoP, citing educational and advisory purposes. The judge-rapporteur of the Munich LD granted access subject to redactions of confidential information.

The CoA partially overturned a broad evidence production order of the LD Copenhagen and clarified the limits on the scope. The Court of First Instance had ordered Appellant to produce, subject to a penalty payment of up to EUR 1,000 per day of delay, complete construction drawings, manuals and “other materials” provided to customers. Appellant appealed, raising five grounds: disproportionality, lack of evidentiary necessity for process features, fishing expedition / pre-emptive remedies, self-incrimination, and insufficient confidentiality measures.

Two brothers in Germany have pleaded guilty mid-trial to breaching EU sanctions against Russia by shipping engineering and industrial equipment valued at €830,000 between 2023 and 2024. As part of a plea agreement with prosecutors, both defendants have accepted four-year custodial sentences, with the court's verdict still pending while their father faces separate prosecution for related offenses.