germany
7 September 2017Patents

LPKF secures patent win against Motorola in Germany

Laser and electronics company LPKF has secured a patent win against telecoms conglomerate Motorola in the German Federal Court of Justice.

On Tuesday, September 5, the German court rejected a request for annulment from Motorola, thereby confirming the validity of the patent, according to a press release from LPKF.

The patent concerned, European patent number 1,274,288, covers laser direct structuring (LDS) which is used to manufacture antennas in cell phones and other mobile electronic devices.

In 2013, the patent was declared invalid in China.

The following year, in September 2014, LPKF obtained a preliminary victory in the Mannheim Regional Court.

Motorola Deutschland and Motorola Mobility USA were ordered to refrain from selling phones in Germany that infringed the patent and Motorola Deutschland was ordered to recall all phones that infringed the patent from commercial customers.

Motorola subsequently appealed.

In 2015, the Federal Patent Court of Germany upheld the LDS patent as amended, after LPKF provided clarifications.

Then, earlier this week, the German Federal Court of Justice rejected the annulment request.

Dr Ingo Bretthauer, CEO of LPKF, said that although the company doesn’t have “great expectations” for its LDS business in the short term, LPKF will protect the patent and proceed against patent infringers with all “available means”.

Did you enjoy reading this story?  Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories like this sent straight to your inbox

Today’s top stories:

NFL opposes trademark over Colts logo similarity

Wells Fargo and film company reach settlement in trademark dispute

Buzzfeed at centre of another copyright dispute

Already registered?

Login to your account

To request a FREE 2-week trial subscription, please signup.
NOTE - this can take up to 48hrs to be approved.

Two Weeks Free Trial

For multi-user price options, or to check if your company has an existing subscription that we can add you to for FREE, please email Adrian Tapping at atapping@newtonmedia.co.uk